- 0-19 (Rev. 8-20-79) ~ Suspect in assassination attempt: gun-toting ‘loner’ Hinckley may have wanted to ‘impress’ young actress By astaff correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor - Denver An obsessive infatuation with a teen-age actress may have been the motive behind John Warnock Hinckley Jr.’s alleged attempt to kill President Reagan. Mr. Hinckley wrote to 18-year-old actress ; -Jody Foster several times and even fol- 54957 lowed her to New Haven, Conn., last fall when she enrolled in Yale University, ac- cording to wire service reports. FBI investigators discovered an unmailed letter to Miss Foster in Hinckley’s * Washington hotel room that indicated he would assassinate the President in order to ‘impress her,” said one federal source. “He did it for her,” said one source closely familiar with the investigation of the wounding of Reagan and three others just blocks from the White House Monday. “She’s the key.” A statement issued by Miss Foster late March 31 declared that she had “‘never met, Spoken to, or associated with him {Hinckley].” As more details about the background of Jack Hinckley Jr. continue to emerge, they “are beginning to explain why the 25-yéar-old Coloradan would attempt such an act. Chief FBI spokesman Roger Young said: “By definition, we’re dealing with an extremely troubled man.” According to a statement released by Mr. Hinckley’s parents, the young man “had been under psychiatric care. How- ever, the evaluations did not alert anyone to the seriousness of his condition.” Young Hinckley, blonde and husky, is the son of Denver oil executive John W. Hinckley Sr. The family lives in Evergreen, Colo., an exclusive Denver suburb. Re- cently, Jack Hinckley had been living at home, but, according to neighbors, he wasn’t around much. While Hinckley does not have any crimi-_ nal record in Colorado, the FBI has turned up an arrest in California on drug charges. On March 11, he pawned a guitar and type- writer. for $50 at GI-Joe’s Pawnshop in Den- ver and the clerk described him as “spaced out’’ and apparently desperate for money. He also has been identified as the recent purchaser of two 22-caliber handguns in Dallas. He was arrested Oct. 9, 1980, in Nash- ville, Tenn., while President Carter was holding a town meeting in the city, when he tried to board an airplane with three guns and ammunition in a suitcase. He was fined and released after the guns were confis- cated. Authorities have since learned that Hinckley commented at the time on the fact -that presidential candidate “Reagan had can= celed an appearance there two days earlier. In Chicago, an official of the National Socialist Party of America said Hinckley had been expelled from that neo-Nazi group because he “wanted to shoot people and -blow things up.” Michael C. Allen, president-elect of the party, described Hinckley as “a nut” and said Hinckley joined the party in 1978. Hinckley attended Texas Tech Univer- sity in Lubbock on and off from 1973 until 1980. Although few people at Texas Tech re- called Hinckley, those who remembered him described him as a lonely person. However, in primary and secondary schools in Highland Park,-Texas, an incor- porated city of plush mansions and upper- class homes surrounded by Dallas, Hinckley _ apparently had a number of friends. seen Hinckley was born May 9, 1955, in Ardmore, Okla., but moved two years later with his family to Highland Park. The family later moved to Evergreen, but Hinckley remained in .Dallas and en- ” rolled in the school of business administra- tion at Tech. He never received a degree. DoclTd: 32969491 Page 59 Exec AD Adm. ___ Exec AD Inv. Exec AD LES ___ Asst. Dir.: Adm. Servs. — Crim. Inv. - Ident. {ntell. Laboratory __ Legal Coun. __ Plan. & Insp. __ Rec. Mgnt. — Teck. Servs. __ Training Public Affs. Off. _ Telephone Rm. Director's Sec’y — The Washington Post Washington Star-News Daily News (New York) The New York Times The Wall Street Journal] _____ The Atlanta Constitution The Los Angeles Times —__—___ (San Io Date _¢23l -Z <Z ~ - 6 FBI/D0J
_ 0-19 (Rev. 8-20-79) » wee. Fay LS By JOSEPH VOLZ " Washington (News Bureau)—John’ Warnock Hinckley Jr., the 25-year-old drifter from a wealthy oil family, is charged with the attempted assassina- tion of President Reagan, was examined by a court-appointed psychiatrist yes- terday in his isolation cell at the Quan- ico (Va.) Marine Base to determine if he is able to appear today at a bail hearing. . . But even as the psychiatrist was- questioning Hinckley on what forces | motivated him, there were indications : that the suspect may have been driven’ by His obsession with teenage movie star Jodie Foster. Hinckley’s attorney, ‘Vincent Fuller, sought to call off the . psychiatric exam. . Fuller, a member of the Washington law firm of Edward Bennett Williams (Williams and Connally) told U.S. Magistrate Arthur Burnétt that he had a two-hour interview with Hinckley on - the day after the shooting and had determined that his client was able to understand the-circumstances and to help in his defense. . LEGAL OBSERVERS speculated that Fuller was anxious to keep .the Justice Department from obtaining any Rinc®le who ° «= a THRE ee ee LN y unc Dt eesti Cae syehot “or two, made at least one and possibly ‘more -trips to Washington in the last year. On one such trip, he may have . -foured -the White House with other .published a photo yesterday showing a solemn-faced Hinckley, in shirt-sleeves, seated by the fence in front of the. executive mansion. . a AMONG THE MATERIALS: seized in Hinckley’s hotel room was a Dec. 10 article in The Washirigton Post, quoting ¥erses Written by slain former Beatle tied. John Lennon, who was shot dead on Dec. 8. Hinckley may have been in town to biry that edition of the paper. ** Hinckley is faced with two federal _ charges—“knowingly and intentional- ly” attempting to kill Reagan, and “intentionally assaulting” a federal of- ficer, Timothy McCarthy, the Secret Service agent who was wounded in the fusillade of bullets from Hinckley’s slzshot » 22calibertreyoiver: ° offers seriotidiytinjared? Ware! House Press Secretary James Brady, “who was shot through the brain, and a ashington police officer, Thomas De- lahanty. Local authorities are expected to charge Hinckley later in those cases. .+ One question yet to be resolved is: Where did Hinckley, admittedly unemp- ~, esis tourists. United Press..International - more detailed information about his joyed, get the money to travel around Client’s mental state, possibly to re- the country in recent weeks? His serve a defense of insanity if Hinckley father, John W. (Jack) Hinckley Sr. of is indicted by a federal grand jury and :, Evergreen, Colo., is an oil company ’ brought to trial on the attempted assas- executive, but young Hinckley has had sination charges. ® virtually no contact with him recently. Burnett declined to halt ‘the -- THE WILLIAMS and Connally law psychiatric examination, but he agreed * | WW 54952 to keep the psychiatrist's report sealed for now. He ordered Fuller to produce Hinckley in U.S. District Court here this morning. . “ Hinckley is expected to waive any further preliminary hearing, which - would pave the way for a federal grand jury to begin hearing evidence in the ease. Meanwhile, there were growing indi- .cations that Hinckley, who apparently never held a job for more than a week DoclId: 327989491 Page 60 firm said in a statement released yester- day that Fuller “was contacted by a - Asst. Dic.: - owed “tg waewe-ldent, — ‘the sidewalk outside th Hilton Hotel at 2:30 p.m. Monday. ‘ FEDERAL OFFICIALS also told ‘congressmen’ yesterday that Hinckley did not violate any law when he purch- ased several guns during his wander- ‘ings over the last two years. According -to published reports, Hinckley bought - three guns in Dallas and two in Lub- bock, Tex., (he was familiar with Lub- bock because he had attended Texas Tech University there off and on for about ‘seven years). Texas law and federal law does not forbid the purch- ase of the weapons, Officials said. “Neither the FBI nor .the Secret Service reported having anything in ,their Washington files on Hinckley before the assassination attempt. Al- , though FBI agents interviewed actress Foster last fall after she received an . anonymous -.threatening letter, the wo agents had not been able to identify the White’ nder.. FBI handwriting experts are ow comparing the letter with letters own to be written ff there is any si writing and style. —friend’ of-the Hinckley family who is. acquainted with Mr. Fuller” and asked to replace young Hinckley’s court-ap- pointed attorney. Indications were that “the senior Hirickley, who heads Vander- bilt Energy Corp., an oil and gas explo- ration company in Denver; would be * < “ footing the legal bill. * ” ° . , _ Last ‘March 25, Hinckley left the Golden Hours Motel in Denver where ; he-had.been: Ken twd diveeRSé ; - the trip which eventually Jed him to ing $74 a.week for: they. et héke den be sah The Washington Post Washington Star-News Daily News (New York The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Atlanta Constitution The Los Angeles Times Date =- a = Adm. Servs. Crim. Inv. e Washington sec AD Adm. ___ ec AD Inv. ree AD LES ___ aPthe Hadid akc a T FBI/DOU
at NW., law enforcement offi- @ + , Say, Was & news schedule f Reagan's plans for Monaay. "Officials believe Hinckley acted ~ |, § Inside the hotel room at /vo so. [{< “He w > definitely a kook,” Tar- @ a | yesterday. AD Adm. tr held a brief press yp Inv, “sod Hinckley ; conference yesterday on the Yale \D LES Unde oes alone and may have had general fan- gampus, Flanked by her mother, *” — rg -tasies about assassination for - , Brandy, who had flown in from Los Dir.: . . Months. - -Angeles, Foster saidshe had been up- Servs. -But they say the plan toshootthe —}. set by the alleged assailants obses- ~ enta est president probably was not clear in =| sion with her. his mind until early last week, when _ he travelled by plane from Denver “I felt very shocked, very frightened . . . very jumpy,” Foster . met oo sources be |” Said about the news, which was con- .44 Psychiatrist Checks — ffarenemey have picked up apistol |. Vevedtoherby her roommate "sort “C7 — ® * a 4 from a former address, then caught. : » sie . _— His Fitness for Trial . epus to Washington, He arrived I cried, or whatever. & Insp. __ . here Sunday. * .. She stressed that “in none of these Mgnt. By Jane Mayer Hinckley, who has been described | letters and notes... was any mMen- Serys, Washington Star Staff Writer * as a lonely, aimless drifter, under, tion, reference or implication ever ing — went a battery of tests administere “made as to violent acts against any- — together John Be inekicy Ores ak by Dr. James L. Evans, a part-time fo- one, nor was the president ever men- Affs. Off. _ leged plot to assassinate the presi. Tensic psychiatrist with the D.C. | toned.” one Rm. _. dent, a court-appointed psychiatrist mental health administration, yes- She said she threw away the ,', Sec'y _ earlier notes and, when they arrived erday. : tercay “more frequently in March, turned The sealed psychological eval- uation was not meant to determine them over to her college dean. Hinckley's sanity, said Thomas P. {| Foster dismissed the notion that DeCair, a Justice Department her role as a teen-age prostitute in spokesman. Rather, he said, it was : the 1976 movie “Taxi Driver,” about designed to determine if Hinckley is :@n assassination attempt, might capable of understanding his rights , have inspired the shooting. and participating in his own de- . “It's a piece of fiction,” she said. fense, . , | “It’s not meant to inspire people or Hinckley, whose parents have | tell them to do anything.” been in touch with him by tele- r “Inno way,” she added, “have I hone, is described by authoritiesas | ever been sorry for any of the films being in a “subdued frame of mind.” ! rve done. But DeCair said the suspect was spent three hours yesterday trying to.determine if the suspect is men- tally competent to stand trial. Hinckley, the 25-year-old son of a " . wealthy Denver oil executive, is be- * {ng held in an isolated cell under * constant surveillance at the Marine ‘Corps Base at Quantico. He is -charged with having attempted to assassinate President Reagan Mon- day in what authorities describe as a bid to impress movie starlet Jodie Foster, , _--.An unmailed letter to Foster, ‘seized from the District hotel room HW 54952 DBoclId: 329899491 ’ where Hinckley spent the night be- fore the assassination attempt, re- vealed Hinckley's desperate and -- self-destructive obsession-with the 18-year-old movié actress. - . “There isa definite possibility that ‘I will be killed in my attempt to get Reagan; began the hand-written let- ter on one and one-half pages of lined paper. “It is for this very rea- son lam writing you this letter now. “, ..] would abandon this idea of ; Betting Reagan in a second if I could * only win your heart and live out the rest of my life with you... “I just cannot wait any longer to impress you. . .Give me the chance witb this historical deed to win your respect and love.” The unmailed letter was signed, “I love you forever, John Hinckley,” and dated 12:45 p.m. March 30 - about two hours before Hinckley al- legedly fired six shots from a .22- caliber handgun into Reagan, White House Press Secretary James M. Brady, a Secret Service officer and a D.C. policeman dutside the Wash- ington Hilton Hotel. * Also recovered from Hinckley’s “belongings in the Park Central Hotel and from his parent’s home in Ever- ~green, Colo, which was searched yesterday, was literature on presi- dential assassinations,’ pictures of President Kennedy's assassin, Lee . Harvey Oswald, and itineraries charting Reagan's movements on re- --cent trips to New York and Califor- nia. .. : : Page 61 hearty enough yesterday to eat all meals, to appreciate clean blue jeans and reading materials. He is said to read avidly. _ DéCair would not say what Hinck: _ ley had asked to read, but hoted that he is being shielded froth news ac- counts of the assassination attempt. ; While the psychological tests were- being conducted; FBI and Secret Ser- vice agents fanned out across the country ~ from New Haven, Conn., where Foster gave a brief press con- ference, to Baton Rouge, La., where television evangelist Jerry Swaggart - received a suspicious note. Swaggart _Teceived a hand-scrawled message, postmarked March 25 from Colora- do, from someone vowing to kill the president. Foster, an 18-year-old freshman at Yale University, denied yesterday that she had ever met or associated with Hinckley. But she and law en- “forcement officials confirmed that she had received several love letters signed John W. Hinkley and J.W.H., some of which were slipped under her dormitory door. . Hinckley, according to FBI sources, followed Foster to Yale last , fall but may never have seen her in * person. He stayed for several weeks . i September at the Sheraton Park = Plaza Hotel in New Haven, and re- } turned again this past March 1 and 2. : Mark Targrove, a bartender at the : hotel, remembers a man who looked -Jike Hinckley drinking alone at the - ar for three hours last fall, showing “ther guests photographs of Foster and boasting that he was her boy- jfriend. =~ . Ae ——— * “It disturbs me. Anything to do with an assassination attempt, espe- | cially with presidents. . .butI know I'm not involved.” : Yesterday's psychological tests of “ Hinckley were conducted over the ' objections of his attorney, Vincent , Fuller, a partner in the prestigious Washington law firm of Williams -and-Connolly. The Washington Post Washington StarNews Ant Daily News (New York) The New York Times The Wall Street Journal _____ - The Atlanta Constitution : The Los Angeles Times pate L-R-SY § FBI/O0.
HW 54952 Docld:32989491 J LD game At acourt hearing yesterday, Full- er sought to cancel the psychiatric tests. But US. Magistrate Arthur L. Burnett rejected the request, order- ing the psychiatric evaluation. inckley is scheduled to appear in US. District Court today for a pre- liminary hearing before US. Magis- trate Lawrence S, Margolis, to determine whether sufficient evi- dence exists to proceed with th case. : Puller told the magistrate that his client was willing to waive the pre- liminary hearing and have the case _ go directly to a federal grand jury. Burnett, however, ruled that the hearing should be held as planned, with Hinckley present. But it is ex- pected to be unusually brief, featur- ing what -FBI sources termed: “extraordinary footage” from sub- poenaed video news tapes of the -Shootings: Contributing to this story was John McQuaid, Yale Daily News re- porter.
_ 0-19 (Rev. 8-20-79) @ Hinckley | eyed by 2 -all the time . Washington (News Bureau}—John _ Hinckley Jr., who is accused of attempt- - {ng to assassinate President Reagan, is , being watched round-the-clock by a ‘ minimum of two federal, marshals in : his isolation cell at the base brig at _ Quantico Marine Base in Virginia. . The base, a 60,000-acre facility along 2 * the Potomac River and Interstate 95, 40 * miles southeast of Washington, houses " the FBI Academy and Marine helicop- , ter squadron HMX-1, which provides _the helicopters (known as “Marine , One”) used by the White House. - * The brig is a squat, one-story, brown 4 concrete structure built in the early “) 1970s to. house up to 150 navy and e. marine prisoners serving sentences for * minor crimes. Most of the approximate. i, ly 75 prisoners there serve sentences i_of-six-months or: ‘less. “ot t _ Warrant Officer Dave Sims, the base : Public information officer at Quantico, * said the brig is not especially isolated. It sits within sight of the Officers 4 < Candidate Schoo! and a Marine Corps marine helicopter air station grounds. “It has five cells to a block. Hinckley Gs the sole occupant ‘of ‘one block, Segregated from the other prisoners, a _ Spokesman for the marshals said. The 7 - suspect ts being held in a 6-by-10-foot ‘ cell equipped only ‘with a wall sink, a" ; toilet andabed. =! . _ Besides the regular complement of / marine guards, marshals .also are . Guarding the celiblock area and two gare assigned” specifically, to watch Hinckley nonstop. a i Setahasee ‘fa HW 54952 DocId: 32989491. _Page_63_. Exec AD Adm. Exec AD Inv. ___ Exee AD LES ____ Asst. Dir.: Adm. Servs. Crim. Inv. Ident. Intell. Laboratory Legal Coun. ___ Plon. & Insp. __ Rec. Mgnt. - Tech. Servs. ___ Training Public Affs. Off. _ Telephone Rm. Director's Sec’y — The Washington Post Washington Star-News —______ Daily News (New York) ae ee The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Atlanta Constitution The Los Angeles Times Date FY-2Q2-8l/ = [6 . FBI/DOJ
_ 0-19 (Rev. 8-20-79) . AW 34952, DoclId: 32969491 Page 65 U.P.I. Releases Photos Said to Show Hinckley “Outside White House By United Press Intemational The news agency United Press Interna- tional yesterday released to its subscrib- ers two photographs it had acquired, de- scribed as showing John W. Hinckley Jr. in front of the White House, apparently in the last year. One picture shows the 25-year-old sus- pect in the shooting of President Reagan seated on the low wall supporting the iron: fence that surrounds the White House, which is in the background, In the other picture, he is standing across the street from the White House. In both pictures, Mr. Hinckley is wearing dark trousers and a light-colored shirt with an open collar and buttoned cuffs. Aspokesman for the news agency said -that-the-photographs contained-no mark- ings to show the date they were made. However, trees and shrubbery indicated ‘that it was spring or summer. The agency also said that, as a condition of obtaining the pictures, it would release no further details on them. Exec AD Adm, __ Exec AD Inv. Exec AD LES ___ Asst. Dir.: Adm. Servs. _ Crim. Inv. Ident. Intell. Laboratory Legal Coun. __ Plan. & Insp. __— Rec. Mgnt. —__ Tech. Servs. __ Training — _ Public Affs. Off. _ Telephone Rm. _. Director's Sec’y — The Washington Post Washington Star-News Daily News (New York) _—______ The New York Times _A-24_ The Wall Street Journal The Atlanta Constitution ______. The Los Angeles Times Date _ Y-2-3) 12 FBI/D0!
| . 0-19 (Rev. 8-20-79) . : Teen-Age Actress Says Notes Sent by Suspect _ Did Not Hint Violence a ° " By MATTHEW L. WALD~ Spoctal to The New York Times NEW HAVEN, April 1 — The actress Jodie Foster said today that she received “several pieces of unsolicited corre- spondence” last fall from the suspect in the shooting of President Reagan and that she had thrown them away. But when she received “three or four more notes”’ at the beginning of March, the 18- year-old Yale freshman said, she gave them to her dean. * “In none of these letters and notes I re. ceived was any mention, reference or im. Plication ever made as to violent acts against anyone, nor was the President ever mentioned,” she said this afternoon, reading a statement to six reporters in- vited to meet with her. : “Because they came in more frequent- - ly,”? she added in to a question about the letters, “I automatically didn’t want to assume anything, and I gave them tothedean inordertobesafe.” - Miss Foster said that at one time last “year a@ police officer was assigned to pro- tect her because of a handwritten kidnap- . Ping threat but that she had not seen the threat and did not know if it was con- nected to John W. Hinckley Jr., who has * been charged with attempting to kill Mr. Reagan. The Federal Bureay of Investi: gation is examining the handwritten let- ter to see if it can be linked 'to Mr. Hinck- ley, sources close to the investigation said. Miss Foster said that she had never met Mr. Hinckley. Investigators have suggested that Mr.. Hinckley may have been trying to’im.- press Miss Foster when he allegedly shot , the President on Monday, wounding three ' other people as well. After the shooting, investigators found an unmailed letter to Miss Foster in Mr. Hinckley’s hotel room in Washington in which he had written, “I have killed the President,” according to sources familiar with the investigation. The letters. received by Miss Foster last month were given to Eustace Theo- dore, dean of Calhoun College, on March ° 6, and he gave them to the campus police the following Monday. The campus police have not said when they were turned over tothe F.B.I. 7 “T'm not allowed to reveal any of the contents, because I don't want to jeopard- ize the prosecution,” Miss Foster, said, noting, ‘The letters were assumed to . have been love-type letters.” , She said that the Federal Bureau of In- vestigation had asked her not to say how the letters were delivered. Mr. Hinckley checked into the’Colony Inn, adjacent to the Yale campus, for one night in October .and another in February, according’ to the hotel manager. According to pub. lished accounts, the notes were slipped under the door. of Miss Foster's dormitory room. ; - *PReacted Badly’ Seated in a lounge of Calhoun College, to which she-is assigned, and accompa- ‘nied by her mother, Brandy Foster, Miss Foster -described how she had learned that the suspect in the attempted assassi- nation had the same name as the man who had written to her. Knowing only that Mr. Reagan had been shot, she re. tumed to her room at about 9 P.M. and Was greeted by a roommate, who had reviously heard her mention Mr. Hinck- "sname. . “tT walked in the door, and she said, ‘Jodie! John Hinckley!’ ” “I said, ‘John Hinckley what?’ " Miss Foster said. . , ane said “John Hinckley! ¢ John Hinck- ey!’ Miss Foster repea , making a gesture as if shaking someone the shoulders y “T said, ‘John Hinckley what?’ Miss Foster repeated. Then the roommate ex- plained, Miss Foster said, . “I reacted badly. I Suess I cried, and whatever,” she said in a soft voice. Not Know Suspect A few minutes later, the F.B.1. tele- , she said. Since then, Miss Foster said, she has been interviewed F.B.I., the Secret Service and the United States Attorney’s Office. - . She emphasized that she had “never -| met, spoken to, or in any way associated with one John W. Hinckley.” “I, know it’s not myself that’s in- volved,” she said. “I’m in no way in- volved in any of this, really.”? She added that the assassination attempt had upset her because “violence is very disturb- Asked about reports that Mr. Hinckley may have been acting out the role of an assassin in the movie “Taxi Driver,” in -| which she played the part of al2-year-old- | prostitute, Miss Foster said that she did not know the suspect and had no insight into his motives, She added that she did not regret hav- jing made the film. “It’s one of the finest films I’ve ever been in,” she said. She de- scribed the movie, in which Robert De Niro plays a crazed taxi driver who stalks a politician and finally kills a pimp anda number of other men, as “a piece of art,” saying, ‘‘It’s not meant to inspire people or tell them to do anything.”* Miss Foster indicated that it was possi- ble that Mr. Hinckley had written to her before last fall. “Due to my profession as an actress, I have often been contacted by strangers,” she said in her Statement, » “I discourage all strangers from calling or Visiting me. I receive a great deal of unsolicited mail, but I seldom -{ read it.” Gets 3,600 Letters a Month __ Miss Foster’s mother, who arrived in New Haven today to see her daughter ina ' student dramatic stage production, ‘“‘Get- ting Out,”’ said that Miss Foster receives | about 3,000 letters a month. . Michael D. T e, & bartender at ‘argrov. ithe “Top of the Park’ bar at the Park Plaza hotel, said that a man fitting Mr. Hinckley’s description spent about three bar one day last year, brag- ging that he was Miss Foster's boyfriend and trying to show bartenders newspaper clippings about her. But, said Mr. Tar- gove, the bartenders did not pay much at- tention. ‘‘We see some like this, we take it with a grain of salt,” he said. 66. by the" Ae wer he re BS Exec AD Adm. ___ Exec AD Inv. Anoth ; AD LES er bartender, who did not wish to — be quoted by name, said the man ‘‘wasn’t Dir: too clean.” “He was the type of guy you couldn’t - Servs. - really forget, because he was just really :. Inv. ird,” said the bartender. ‘‘He was say- t. be Jodie Foster this, Jodie Foster that. He said he was going out with her and he |. her,”” . aa art bartenders said that the man was — jratory not unruly, and neither recalled any indi- i Coun, __ cation that the man intended any vio- i ne manager of the hotel, Val W. Ring- M & Insp. __ gnt. ‘er, said he would not say whether Mr.| Servs. kley had registered there. However, Hany ‘Gilbert, manager of the Colony | ing Inn, said that when Mr. Hinckley stayed 'Affs. Off. _ there, “he came In, Signed in, used his é, and paid cash. i Nobody remenbers him at all,” said ‘ad Mr. Gilbert. The Washington Post Washington Star-News Daily News (New York) The New York Times The Wall Street Journal one Rm, __ "s Sec’y _ ” — The Atlanta Constitution The Los Angeles Times ae aren Date _Y-2~9) (3 FBI/DOJ
HW 54952 . New Haven (AP)—Movie star - Jodie Poster said yesterday that she did not consider herself “involved” with John “W. Hinckley Jr. and that the love. letters she received from him did not mention President Reagan or “violent wacts against anyone.” wm ” : Foster, 18, said ata press conference that her chief link to the case was the. amount of publicity that has sur- srounded the letters from Hinckley, | ‘who is accused of trying to assassinate ; Reagan on Monday. She is widely known for -her role five years ago as a 13-year-old prosti- ‘tute in the movie “Taxi Driver,” which included a plot to assassinate a political :candidate. Investigative sources said that -Hinckley was infatuated with Foster’ and was out to prove his love. Earlier reports said that Hinckley, ‘25, a drifter and sor of wealthy parents, had written her that he Would kill Reagan because the President was somehow obstracting her movie career. FOSTER, A FRESHMAN literature _ major at Yale University, dismissed DoclId: 32989491 Page 67 Jodie: 3: fot‘ with z Fa - ae lege those reports. She told reporters that she had been “shocked” and “frigh- tened” to learn that the letters were written by the alleged assassin. _She said she had received a number of letters’ and notes signed either “JWH” or “John Hinckley” last fall and again last month. She described them as “several pietes of unsolicited correspondence” received after she en- tered Yale. She said she “threw them all away”. along with other fan mail. ““This is not uncommon as I receive “a great deal of similar unsolicited -correspondence,” she said. ‘At the be- ginning of March, I-received three or four more notes similarly signed (by * Hinckley). On March 6, I gave them to- said. my college dean, ‘who in turn gavé them to the Yale police. These are now in the custody of the FBI. “IN NONE OF THESE letters and . notes I received was any mention, Teference or implication ever made as to violent acts against anyone, nor was the President ever mentioned,” Foster ~said in a prepared statement. The Justice Department reportedly found an unmailed letter addressed to- invott assassin = - . Foster in Hinckley’ s Washington hotel room after his arrest. It also indicated he wanted to impress her by killing Reagan, according to reports. The actress attended the conference with two attorneys, her mother and Eustis Theodore, dean of her residen- tial hall. . Foster said she learned of the poss- | ible connection between the notes and the assassination attempt after her roommate mentioned the name John Hinckley. The. FBI agents called a few minutes later. . . “] FELT VERY shocked ... . frigh- tened, ‘distressed... cried, I guess,” she In the 30-minute conference, Foster said she hoped the furor over the - incidents would end so that she “might resume my normal life” on campus. Since starting her studies, Foster had avoided interviews, but answered .Some questions at her stage debut last week in a student production of “Get- ting Out,” in which she played a prosti- tute imprisoned for killing - a cabd- river. . a The Washington Post Washington Star-News Daily News (New York) a3 The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Atlanta Constitution — The Los Angeles Times ~ - Date F-A-Bl — FBI/O0/ yY— jn. isp. —_— Ss. Off. - Rm. Sec’ y -
_ 0-19 (Rev. 8-20-79) HW 54952. Docld:32989491 _. —_ Text of Letter to F oster * The following is the text of an unmailed letter to actress Jodie Foster recovered by law enforce- ment authorities from Room 312 in the Park Central Hotel here, where John W. Hinckley dr. stayed, as obtained by The Wash- ington Post from various sources. The two-page letter was neatly written on lined paper, the sources said. The date, °3-30-81,” © and the time, “12:45 p.m.” were written at the top of the letter. Dear Jodie: ; There is a definite possibility that I will be killed in my attempt to get Reagan. It is for this very reason that I am writing you this letter now. As you well know by now, I love you very much. The past seven months I have left you dozens of poems, letters and messages in the faint hope you would develop an interest in me. Although we talked on the phionié a ‘couplé of times, I never " had the nerve to simply approach ° you and introduce myself. Besides . my shyness, I honestly did not wish to bother you with my con- stant presence. I know the many messages left at your door and in your mailbox were a nuisance, but I felt it was the most painless way for me to express my love to you. T feel very good about the fact you at least know my name and how I feel about you. And by hanging around your dormitory, Yve come to realize that I'm :the topic of more than a little conver- sation, however full of ridicule # may be. At least you know that Til always love you. ‘Jodie, I would abandon this " idea of getting Reagan in a second if I could only win your heart and “+live out the rest of my life with you, whether it be in total ‘obscuri- ty or whatever. I will admit to you that the reason I’m going ahead with this attempt now is because I . just cannot wait any longer to im- press you. I’ve got to do some- thing now to make you under- stand in no uncertain terms that I am doing all of this for your sake. By. sacrificing my freedom and possibly my life, I hope to change your.mind-about-me. This-letter-is: ‘being writteri an hour before I leave for the Hilton Hotel. Jodie, ’'m asking you to please look into your heart and at least give me the chance with this his- ‘torical deed to gain your respect and love. T love you ‘forever. (signed) John Hincldey Exec AD Adm. —_ Exec AD Inv. — Exec AD LES ___ Asst. Dir.: Adm. Servs. — Crim, Inv. Ident. Intell. - Laboratory Legal Coun. __ Plan. & Insp. —_. Rec. Mgnt. — Tech. Servs. __ Training Public Affs. Off. Telephone Rm. Director's Sec’y — AS The Washington Post Washington Star-News Daily News (New York) The New York Times ———-____—— The Wall Street Journal —_____- The Atlanta Constitution __._—- The Los Angeles Times [Ss FBI/DOJ
“0-19 (Rev. 8-20-79) ¢ Experts Say — Films Can Prod Disturbed. . By Jerry BrsHop * Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL President? ogists who have studied the matter. tute going to kill the President.’” The Unmailed Letter actress who portrayed the prostitute in “Taxi Driver,” Jodie Foster. In the un- maited”-letter, according to Washington sources, Mr. Hinckley says he- killed the President. This has led to speculation that if Mr. Hinckley is the one who attempted to kill Mr. Reagan, he might have been acting -| out’d fantasy inspired by-the movie. . “Psychiatrists and psychologists who have -studied-the effects of violent movies, televi- + sion-and-general publicity about violent acts: on people are reluctant to make “armchair” diagnoses of Mr. Hinckley or the effect on him of “Taxi Driver.’ But they say that in general, movies, television and publicity could be the catalysts for certain types of aggressive or mentally disturbed persons to carry out violent acts. Eager Viewers “Everyone watching a film.tends to get involved in it at the time,"’ says Dr. Harvey Greenberg, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine and author of the book, “Movies on Your Mind,” a psychological study of motion pictures. For most people, Dr. Greenberg says, the involvement ends shortly after the movie is | over. But for others it is ‘longer lasting. | “T’ve seen people who become very in- volved, and they’re not crazy people,” he says. Some people even mold their lives ‘| around the personalities of such stars .as Humphrey Bogart or Bette Davis. “for more troubled people, this involve- ment with the movies can merge into reality and it becomes real life,” he says. . Dr. Greenberg declines to speculate about Mr, Hinckley. To gauge the effect of a movie on anyone, a psychiatrist would have to be familiar with the.person's entire life, HW (54952 Docld: 32989491. Could a movie trigger a person to at- tempt such a violent act as assassinating 4 {/ rehabilitation,” he theorizes. . To social psychologist Leonard Berkowitz at the University of Wisconsin, any kind of publicity about violent acts can stimulate aggressive behavior, ever in normal people. . For a few people who already have aggres- | sive tendencies, he suggests, the publicity, whether it be amovie or news stories, can Given a person with the right—or rather wrong—type of personality, this very likely could happen, say psychiatrists and psychol- John W. Hinckley Jr., the young man charged with the attempted slaying of Presi- dent Reagan, is said to have been ‘“‘in- splred” by the movie “Taxi Driver.’ The |: film concerns a mentally disturbed cab driver who plots to kill a U.S. Senator and who at-one point tells his teen-aged prosti- ur, “If you don’t love me I'm Investigators reportedly found a letter in | Mr. Hinckley’s hotel room addressed to the {A Kind of Hero tated," Dr. Greenberg says. 1 implant violent notions. -_ 8 larly assault and homicide. “Our study shows that 7 he at ed * “Taxi Driver,” the psychiatrist notes, was a curious movie in that ‘the main char- acter obviously is mentally disturbed. In the end, he rescues the prostitute in a violent 4 Orgy of killings. The character ends up as a | sort of hero. “In some strange way he is sort of all right, as though he were rehabili- “It isn’t impossible to erect a scenario in which a disturbed person would reinvent the movie and live it out as‘a.kind of attempt at : “If you have a suitably aggressive -per- | sonality, then the iflea can be translated into action,” he explains. Prof. -Berkowitz and his colleague, Jacqueline Macaulay, have ‘found that in the- month following such .{ highly publicized violent acts as the assassi- nation of President Kennedy, the murders of student hurses in Chicago by Richard Speck, and the sniper killings at the University of. Texas, there was a.significant increase in violent crimes across-the country, particu- it isn’t only just the bizarre people who are stimulated. Most people become a little more aggressive than they ordinarily would,” Prof. Berkowitz ex- plains. But, he says, it is the “‘oddballs who show the: violent or extreme reaction.” He recalls that shortly aftér the Speck murders in Chicago, a young man walked into an Ari- | sins Of the four U.S. Presidents Exec AD Adm. —_ Exec AD Inv. — Exec AD LES ___ killed while ! in office say the assassins tended to be men- s tally disturbed, socially isolated individuals. “*—~ They seem to have internal conflicts, usu- — ally with some parental figure. The assassi- nation is an “externalizing” or re-enactment of this childhood conflict, with the President ———— serving as a kind of symbolic figure or! “stand-in” for the parental figure. in, . Such a personality “often will be stimu: ,., lated” by a violent movie, agrees Dr. Irving ~*~ ~~ Schneider, associate professor of clinical - --— psychiatry at Georgetown University in vs. __ Washington. ‘The aimless, defeated, with- drawn, schizoid drifter is prone to all kinds Ott i. of fantasy,” he adds. es But, he and others emphasize, it isn’t the Rm. —. movie per se that triggers the violence, but Sec’y _ rather the personality of the movie viewer. i; “A movie can be seen by millions, but only one guy acts It out,”’ Dr. Schneider says. Exactly what goes on in a person's mind to translate a movie into violent reality isn’t known, Dr. Schneider says. ‘We psychia- trists aren't very good at predicting vio- : lence," he concedes. To New York’s Dr. Greenberg, who has just completed a study of the current genre of horror movies, the movies are more a re- flection of what is going on in the soclety's collective mind than a cause of behavior. “Movies are like an extreme Rorschach test,” he says. “The movies pick up on our preoccupations and broadcast them back to us.” For this reason, he explains, he is con- cerned about the new horror movies. ‘‘In the last 10 years, the horror movies have be- come more explicit. more traumatizing.” he observes. : The speculation connecting a movie with ple. He told police he got the idea from pub- licity about the Speck murders. Apparently, Prof. Berkowitz recalls, the young man had spent @ month fantasizing about the mur- ders while target shooting with a rifle. To certain personalities, ““A movie can act as an instigator or a model for certain behavior,” says clinical psychologist Leon- ard Eron at the University of Illinois in Chi- cago. Prof. Eron has studied children who found that they have an increased tendency to violence or aggression that appears to last into at least the teen-age years. Psychiatrists who have studied the assas- gona beauty ‘parior and killed several peo- watch violent television programs, and has! _an attempted Presidential_assassination, -if such is the case, is “fascinating but scary," Dr. Greenberg says. een The Washington Post Washington Star-News ~ Daily News (New York) The New York Times* The Wall Street Journal Bh The Atlanta Constitution ——__— The Los Angeles Times Date [© ——
HW 54952 « 0-19 (Rev. 8-20-79) a DocId: 32989491 Increased Threats - Usually Follow Assassin Attacks By T. R. Reid Washington Post Staff Writer “As the nation looks back with relief at President Reagen’s narrow escape from more +. gerious injury in Monday’s shooting, security ‘officials are looking ahead to the immediate future with concern as they recall a chilling - aspect of the last attack on a president. Just | 17 days after one assailant pointed a gun at Gerald Ford in 1975, another disturbed per- gon made another attempt on the president’ e, "And those attempts by Lynette Fromme * and Sara Jane Moore immediately prompted * a rush of further spoken and written threats _ on the president’s life. Then-Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon said just after the second Ford incident that the number of threats against the president was triple the normal rate in the days following the two incidents. Publicity about assassination at- tempts “tends to invite... deranged human beings to come me oy Simon said. “Security officials and psychiatrists say the . increase in threats following an assassination attempt is a fairly common pattern; people who have had the idea of attacking a pres- ident_somewhere in the backs of their minds tend to become more serious about it. - This poses a problem for Reagan and his _advisers as they contemplate the conduct of the presidency when Reagan returns to the White House. Should the president purpose- ly restrict his exposure to crowds — one member of Congress, Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S. D.) proposed yesterday that Reagan ’ limit future appearances outaide Washington _ to miliatry installations —or should he in office will not be changed because of pos- sible attacks? Publicly, at least, Ford chose the latter course. Hours after a shot from Sara Jane Moore’s pistol had sailed over his head, Ford vowed not to “cower” or “capitulate” to de- .Tanged persons. “If we can’t have the oppor- tunity of talking with one another, seeing one another, shaking hands with one anoth- er, something has gone wrong in our society.” Reagan's chief of staff, James A. Baker Il, said yesterday the administration is thinking about the >_osibllty of reducing Reagan’s exposure to large crowds in the future, But he noted that Reegen is en out. "going ‘individual who enjoys contact with the people. ~— Page 70. White House aides said it is possible that , Reagan will wear a bulletproof vest in future public appearances —- such as he-occasion- ally did during the 1980 presidential cam- paign. Ford began wearing a bulletproof vest after the attempts to shoot him. Meanwhile, official Washington is consid- ering the larger questions of how protection ‘can be balanced against the interests of an open society. congressional subcommittees have acted ee ee caret - Service procedures and the general problem “+ of protecting a president. The Senate Ap- "* propriations Committee chaired by James Abdnor (R-S. D.) will question Secret Ser- ’ vice Director H. Stuart Knight about pro- -’ tective measures in general and Monday’s incident in particular. Also today, a House subcommittee will ‘question Treasury Secretary Donald Regan oad , -—~ who has jurisdiction over the Secret Ser- vice — about the same points. Another House subcommittee plans a private session * ‘with Secret Service officials to discuss details "of Monday’s shooti ting. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mazss.), the . younger brother of two men murdered by * -assassins, said yesterday that the attack on ” Reagan ‘demonstrates anew the need for *. legal controls on handguns. But congressional sources said there didn't r. appear to be much likelihood that the broad ‘:"handgun restrictions Kennedy favors could *sbe approved. : Reagan’s closest aide, White House coun- . selor Edwin Meese II, said in a television 3 -interview--that-he-opposes..gun-control_laws.. © Where such laws are on the books, “so far, _ they don’t indicate they really make much + difference.” Exec AD Adm. Exec AD Inv. Exec AD LES ___ Asst. Dir.: Adm. Servs. — Crim. Inv. - Ident. Intell. Laboratory Legal Coun. __ Plan. & Insp. Rec. Mgnt. Tech. Servs. —_ Training Public Affs. Off. _ Telephone Rm. __. Director's Sec’y — The Washington Post _Ala_ Washington Star-News Daily News (New York) The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Atlanta Constitution — The Los Angeles Times Date “etl 1) FBI/DOJ
A tt — SS OA RAE ee ‘ . - MW 54952, eS Care a al ‘said yesteraay that the BA/ i focusing on Monday’s aah @ ‘ AD ° an Secret Serv ice )exent should wear a bullet-proof & evenly aide to Abdnor. “It’s - AD . dm. _ ‘vest whenever he appears in public. _¥ just going’ to be the obvious ques-”* nv. ~ “If he had one this time, nothing ! tions.” : . 2c AD LES ___ Going to Hill in . Security Probe . Star Wire Services Chairmen of two ‘congressional ‘subcommittees said they would be- -gin investigations today on whether ‘there was a breakdown in security ‘when President Reagan and three members of his entourage were shot “Monday outside the Washington Hil- ton Hotel. 2 Sen. James S. Abdnor, R-S.D., said *his Senate Appropriations subcom- “mittee, which has jurisdiction over ‘the Secret Service budget because it ‘is under the Treasury Department, today will question Secret Service of- ficials, including Director H. Stuart . . Knight. _ “We want to find out what hap- . pened and why,” said an aide to the © senator. “That's our primary con- : ,-cern. Budget matters are secondary - at this point.” * Rep. Edward R. Roybal, D-Calif., chairman of the parallel House sub- *committee on Treasury, Postal Ser- vice and general government, said ‘he also will hold hearings tdday to find out whether, it his opinion, “there was a breakdown in security” Monday. : . As for the shooting itself, sourc who declined to be identified say in- vestigators now believe that Reagan was hit by a ricochet from one of the six bullets fired instead of being -Struck-directly: .* Two bullets hit Reagan’s limou- sine. The investigators say the presi- dent probably was hit by the bullet which struck the rear door. The in- vestigators found miscroscopic traces of paint on the bullet removed from Reagan’s left lung and the en- try wound was more ragged than it would have been had he been struck directly, the sources explained. . . A White House spokesman de-; clined comment on the ricochet re- Docld: 32989491 ee a ‘would have happened,” he said. : Sen. John Tower, R-Texas, meet- ing with Pentagon reporters at a breakfast, also voiced his surprise syesterday that Reagan had not been “wearing the nylon vest designed to, ‘stop low velocity bullets. . : “I'm surprised he wasn't wearing one because I was under the impres- sion that he used one whenever he : gotin acrowd situation,” Tower said, ‘adding that even the thinnest ver- ‘sion of the customary close-woven nylon west “would have deflected that bullet.” . ‘Treasury Secretary Donald Regan told Abdnor’s pane) yesterday that his initial impression was that the Secret Service “functioned in a very ‘professional and expert manner.” * But Regan said he was ordering a department-wide investigation “of swhat happened on Monday and what the reaction of the various Treasury ‘units were.” In addition to the Secret Service, Treasury has jurisdiction over the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which enforces gun laws. mo fy * _ Roybal said in an interview that coordination between the Secret Ser- ‘vice, ‘which is under Treasury's aegis, and the FBI, under the Justice Department, “appears not to be at, the highest.” . oo “The FBI had information about this [suspect John W.] Hinckley hav- ing been arrested before, but our in- formation is it did not reach the Secret Service. My question is, why mot?” he said. ; - Counselor to the president Edwin Meese said in a television interview Tuesday that Reagan wore a bullet- proof vest on some occasions during the 1980 campaign. He said it “would ” be up to the Secret Service” whether Reagan began wearing the vest again. | . oe ee . The Secret Service, checking its actions before and after Reagan and the others were shot, included a look - at why Reagan’s armored car was arked some distance from the door he used to leave the Washington Hil- ton Hotel and whether it should have been closer. ‘Reagan was shot as he walked a curved path to the car, Had the car been right by the door, as Secret Ser- vice practice usually requires in many situations, his path to the car would have been a few steps straight “otthe door, ss . But, said the agency, it appeared the car was parked in its usual loca- tion for a presidential visit to the ho- tel. tees - _ The Senate appropriations subcommittee will hear today from Secret Service Director “Knight while Regan testifies before the House subcommittee. Page 71. LN rd \- f ' | be “Buta third look at the Secret Ser-;+, Dir: vice and the assassination attempt, Ser h: might come from the House Govern-”* °*'YS: —— rment Operations subcommittee,"im. Inv. ___ which has oversight responsibility ent. __ '. for the Treasury. tell. .A spokesman for Chairman Benja- , * min Rosenthal, D-N.Y., said he want-2boratory . ed a private briefing for memberszgal Coun. . before deciding if a more detailedin- og Insp * vestigation was in order. we. M — Reagan confidant Sen. Paul¢- "9". = Laxalt, R-Nev., said the hearings had:ch. Servs. __ deen set jor some time “but we will gining get into it. I thi ey're probably |. ready for it.” lic Affs. Off. _ Secret Service official Laurie.Da-*Phone Rm. vis said every aspect of the agency's :ctor’s Sec’y _ actions Monday was under review, including the placement of the pres- idential limousine. . «_ Sen. Larry Pressler, R-S.D., ‘sug- i€’ gested yesterday that both Reagan and Vice President George Bush lim- i it Washington appearances at places | ‘ , with potential security problems, that out-of-town. public appearances be on military bases and that they . Wear flak jackets in public. +. White House aides Meese and- James Baker said Reagan is the one who must decide about his public ex- ‘ posure. And, said Meese in an NBC *“Today” show interview, “Anyone would have a hard time restricting ; -Ronald Reagan from the people.” The Washihgton Post Washington Star-News _ Art _ Daily News (New York) The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Atlanta Constitution The Los Angeles Times —_—_—_—_—_—_—— Date SF -2-Bl (2 FBI/O0N
. . . . 2 . .- @ _ Gos Angeles Cimes THE ATLANTA CONSTITUT) i ik —_—_— bee te ee Ea Che New {ork © was. | The Washington Star = = = aon m Founded in a _—__ Publubed Dory ond Sundey by The (voning Seat Newspaper Co ATTEMPTED PRESIDENTIAL ASSASSINATION NEWS ARTICLES April 1, 1981 DAILY PRESS SUMMARY FOR THE DIRECTOR | PREPARED BY / THE OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL rans - AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS i : A.M. Edition
8 4 NEWSPAPER ARTICLES OF ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT REAGAN A.M. EDITION THE SUSPECT ; PAGE New York Times New York Daily News Washington Post Washington Star Wall Street Journal 1-24 MEDICAL ASPECTS New York Times New York Daily News Washington Post Washington Star Wall Street Journal 25-36 MISCELLANEOUS New York Times New York Daily News Washington. Post Washington Star Wall Street Journal Christian Science Monitor s t | HW 54952 Doclda: 32969491 Page 73
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