splendid indifference now?” . >. _. With’ a diploma from Tulane Univer- od. vidi mo sity law school, Garrison tried the’ life of. iin FBI agent but’ found: the. role too.” | circumscribed to be stimulating. A stint™ “tacked me do if they were here and had © official responsibility ?, Would® they’ be “| able to sleép nights? Would they'be able to say, ‘Jack Kennedy i is dead and there a is nothing Ican do about ine wt {THe MAKING OF A ‘Bal i ARRISON’S ATTITUDES were un-.- G doubtedly set by his experiences . during’ World: War ILin Europe . where, while flying a Piper. Cub. as an. artillery spotter during the Allied sweep, a he came upon.Dachau. The-residue of. horror. he witnessed there. etched: itself sO deeply on -his conscience that in- the : foreword to a collection of criminology ; essays published in 1966, he: ‘deplored the apathy that permitted Dachau. ‘Since man emerged from the mists of time, he : ‘wrote, “such reason ‘as he. possesses has produced the. cross, the bowl of ‘hem-- | lock, the ‘gallows, the rack, “the gibbet, the ‘guillotine, the sword, the machine. gun, the electric chair, the hand grenade, ; the personnel. mine, .the flame thrower, poison gas,- the - nearly: obsolete “INT - bomb; ‘desolated world and asking, “What hap- pened to your ‘disinterested’ ‘millions? Your uncommitted and uninvolved, your.» preoccupied and: bored? Where ; today ° a are their’ private horizons and. their mir -Tored | worlds, ‘of ‘self?: Where. is their with. a firm: -specializing in. corporation law was , likewise, unrewarding. After:.| * another tour of. duty-in the Korean War —he is presently a Lt. Colonel in the | Louisiana National Guard—he: latched ... 9 as an assistant .DA in New Orleans, ind began his public career. After two” “unsuccéssful- tries at elective office, he ~ pulled an upset in the 1961 district at- torney race. Bucking the Democratic machine and backed only by five young |. lawyers known as the. “Nothing Group” because of. their ‘lack of money ‘and Prestige, he took to_television.and came on strong: Liké Jack Kennedy, he pro- Jected a youthful vigor and enthusiasm . . that was missing, in the stereotyped: Poli- _ ticians he: was. opposing. vt Docld: 32245514 «the-- -obsoléscent -atom” “bomb 1 , -sand ‘the:: currenitly ‘popular’ ‘hydrogen’ | bomb—all made to maim or destroy. his fellow man. ” Garrison, who: is fond of.) allegorical example, pictured an extra: . ‘terrestrial being happening upon a self- Page. 44 ” Garrison's current battle to pet : the - Justice -Department, the. FBI. and. the “CIA ‘to release ‘evidence about the as-- ‘|. cisions are a. factor i in ‘the rising rate of violent crime. _sassination: is: not. the first time: he has _ tangled. with arial retentive ‘government _ authorities. After the DA’s Bourbon. | ‘Street: raids, the. city’s: ‘eight criminal judges. ‘began. blocking his’ source ‘of ° “funds ‘for ‘the “raids, a fines forfeitures’ "pool. “Garrison took on the judges in a” : running dispute that was the talk of New — - Orleans. On one occasion, a luncheon of the: Temple Sinai: Brotherhood, he ‘lik-’ ened -the judges to: “the sacred cows of_| India.” On another, he accused them of. | goldbricking - by’ taking 206 holidays; .} : “not. counting legal holidays” like All | "Saints? Day; Long’s Birthday . and St. - ” Winterbottom’s * Day.”” Outraged, the’ ~ judges collectively filed criminal, defama- tion charges. (Complained one,. “People : holler ‘Moo’ at me.’’) The case escalated © to. the:: US. Supreme Court, where a: landmark. decision’ upheld” Garrison’ s. > right. to. criticize public officials. -He exercised that right. When Mayor | : Mictor'H. ‘Schiro:vacillated on‘ari issue, : che’ quipped, “Not since Hamlet tried to decide whether or not to’ stab the king of: -Denmark has there been so agonizing ‘a. | decision: ” -But if- ‘he’ was an embarrass- ment to’ officials; he was a delight to the voters: In 1965, he was.returned to office ‘by a two to. one margin —the first New ‘traditional democrat to accept its n-'. -evitable:. elitism. : He is. friendly with. . _ Sepregationists -and: “archconservatives, “but ‘bristles. at the mention of. the Ku’ -Klux- ‘Klan. -Negro leaders have. no © “quarrel. ‘with ‘his ‘conduct of office, and “he. +has appointed Negroes as assistant DAs. Several years ago when the police. vice squad tried” to sweep James. Bald- _win’s Another Country: from bookstore ' shelves: “he réfused to prosecute (“How. ~ can you define obscenity?”’) and .-de- nounced ‘the. censorship in stinging ; terms, : thus incurring the wrath of the | ' White Citizens Council. He sees no: ‘vir-. ‘tue in: capital punishment, but is some- | _ what ambivalent ‘on the libertarian trend ~ in court decisions. In a law quarterly. he | "predicted that increasing emphasis on “the rights of the defendant against the of "State may come to ‘be seen as: the greatest _ |. “boyant, ; ‘adjective applied. to him, ‘and in truth he . Orteans, DA to be reelected f in 30 years. Kitisow' s POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY | defies definition. He subscribes in’ part "to “Ayn. Rand’s -indi-.- t dogma, but is‘too much of a |. “contribution our country has made to’ ‘this world. we. live in’; yet on, occasion, "he has implied. ‘that ‘Supreme ‘Court de- ‘But sincé the start of his assassination probe, his views on.‘many’ issues have _ changed appreciably: “A year ago I was a mild hawk on Vietnam,” he relates. : “But no.more. I’ve discovered the gov- “ernment has told so many lies in this (the . assassination) case it-can’t be believed on | anything.” "He fears: that sthe-LS_is evolvi : and: cites as “one indication the subtle’ ‘quashing. of. dissent: by an increasingly autocratic central government. The mas- ‘Sive and still growing power of the CIA “andthe ‘defense ’ establishment, he con- ‘ténds, is ‘transforming’ ‘the’ ‘old: America -into a: Kafkaesque society in which power is. ‘equated with Morality.’ Garrison detests “being ‘called flam- which’ is the ‘most common makes_no conscious: effort. ‘at ostenta- “tion: But ‘he. is one of those arresting |: figures who ‘automatically dominates any ; gathering, and. his bold strokes in battle,- : as deliberate as his moves in-chess, seem = ‘| to dramatize his formidable personality. He also must: rank as One. of the more: in- ‘tellectual ‘big city. DAs. He avidly de- - _vours: history—it reflects i in. his metaphor anid quotes everything from Graham Greene and Lewis Carroll ‘ to Polonius’ advice to: Laertes. But. hei is not exactly a square: “Once ‘known: as'a Bourbon Street swinger, he is still familiar i ina few Of ‘the’ livelier ‘French ‘ ‘Quarter | spots, ‘where’ he. can sometimes be found hold-. : “ing: forth: on: the: piano. ‘and. crooning a . basso. profunito rendition’ ofa ‘tune popu- | ‘ “lar half a generation ago. But, Mostly he ‘Sticks’ to’ his“study” at home, and his , striking’ blonde wife and five kids. It may be. ‘that in’ the end, the rank un- “fairness of the current Siege on Garrison - will be-its undoing, for. the: American. "sense of fair play is not easily trifled with. ‘But do the people really want the truth about the. assassination, .or is it more comfortable: to: let ‘sleeping -dogs lie? "Garrison sees this. as the pivotal question... in the history of the American demo- cratic - experiment:. ‘“In our incipient -Superstate it really doesn’ t-matter what happened. Truth is what the government _ chooses to tell you. Justice is what it wants to ‘happen. It. is better for you not to know that at. midday on Novem ay RAMPARTS 45 1994.
ber.22, 1963, there were many men in : many places glancing at their watches. . _ But if we do not fight for the truth now, we may never have ‘another chance.” ime FBI CLEARS A susPEct] N THE MORNING AFTER the assassi- : nation, as the nation lay stunned ; by grief, Garrison ‘summioned his staff to ‘the office. for- a “brainstorm-. ing session” to’ “explore -the possibility 7 that Lee Harvey ‘Oswald had accomplices _in New Orleaiis, where the] previous sum- mer he had stumped’ the streets advocat- : -ing Fair Play for. Cuba. ' The DA’s men’ ‘put, out feélers : into the , : city’s: ‘netherworld, and it: was First As __ sistant DA Frank Klein who régistered *. the first feedback. Aslight, furtive, soime- - time private eyé named Jack S. Martin’: confided’ that..a “David William Ferrie” had taken off. ona sudden; :trip to. Texas: ‘the afternoon of: the: ‘assassination: The ‘tipster knew. Ferrie, well, although, there ' "was bad. -blood between: them:: Both had worked. intermittently’ for the same: detective “firm, : W. ‘Guy Banister | & 7 ‘Associates, ; and: “were: ‘affiliated. ‘with the Apostolic’ ‘Orthodox. Old. Catholic Church, «a -sect.. ‘steeped in’ ‘theological anti-communism. -Anexceptionally skilled. pilot, Ferrie: had ° ‘been dismissed from— , Eastern’ Air Lines, in 1962: due’ to pub- : licity over ‘alleged homosexual activitiés. 7 “According to Martin, Ferrie had com- manded : a: ‘Civil. Air Patrol Squadron, of. which Oswald had once-been a: member. : He had: ‘taught Oswald ' ‘to: shoot with-a-. telescopic’ sight;. and’ had’ “Become: ‘ine. volved with his protege in an assassina- tion plot. Léss than two. weeks before the © _ target date, Ferrie had made’ a trip. to — - Dallas. His assigned rolei in the assassina- tion, Martin said, was to fly: the’ éscaping’ ; conspirators to” Matamoros, Mexico, near . Brownsville, Texas... When: Ferrié: returned to ‘New. Orléans _ ‘on the: “Monday: ‘following: “President "Kennedy's death, he was interrogated by | - the DA’s office. He'said his' trip had been . : atranged “on the spur of the moment.” — With two. companions, Alvin Beauboeuf and Melvin Coffey, he had driven straight : : through ° to Houston ‘Friday night. ‘On | " Saturday. afternoon; the three ‘skated at -. an ice rink ; that evening they made the | short jog to Galveston and hunted geese ie Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon they ’ headed back to New: Orleans, but de- toured to Alexandria, Louisiana, to visit relatives: of Beauboeuf. "46. RAMPARTS - ‘Garrison v was unconvinced by Ferrie’ s account. An all-night dash ‘through the worst rainstorm if years to-start a mer- curial junket of over 1000 miles i in three days for recreational purposes was too” much. to swallow. “It was a curious trip, to a curious place ata curious time,” the DA recalls. He booked Ferrie‘as a_ “fugitive from Texas” and haiided him. over to the FBI. The ‘G-men questioned -him intensively, then released him. ' Since. the 40-odd pages recording. the: | FBI interrogation | of Ferrie” are: still classified in. the’ National Archives; one ‘\can only surmise the reasons ‘the’ Bureau stamped its file on him “closed.” ren Apparently the FBI did ‘not take the - pilot too seriously. A short Bureau docu- ment.in the National : Archives. reveals | .. HE PROBE REFOCUSED: ON Fetrié, ‘and on, December 15. he ‘was Ferrie had admitted being “publicly and privately” critical of Kennedy. for. with: - | -holding air cover at. the Bay.of. Pigs, and’ 1. had used expressions like “the: ought to qo ’ be shot,” but agents agreed. he: did’ fot mean. the: threat literally. ‘Most convincing at the time,. the fact that. Ferrie. did. not leave New ‘Orleans ‘until hours. after the.. ‘assassination. seemed to’ rule out his role as a’'getaway |. pilot. Moreover, the Stinson monoplane + he then owned: was. sitting at Lakefront a Airport in Junflyable: ‘condition. " Accepting t the FBI's judgment, ‘Garri- “ son dropped. his.’ investigation. oe | had | . / full confidence in the FBI. then,’ he ex-. | plains. “There was ho reason | to try and |. second guess them.” : : For ‘three years the DA's’ fait stirred: by. publications: ripping ° “at” the 7 Cominission’ s methods and conclusions. oe of the few ‘unclassified documents. on Garrison bombarded. the senator with questions in the manner, he reminisces,” “of. a prosecutor cross-éxamining a wit-:. “'ness.” Long maintained that there were “grievous flaws-and unexplored ‘territory _in the Warren Report. He considered it highly implausible that a gunman of Os- mediocre skill” could have fired . wald’s ‘ with pinpoint accuracy, within a time ‘in the’ - | Bureau’s . prowess: ‘remained: ‘unshaken. my Then in November 1966, “squeezed into | “a ‘tourist-class seat onan’ Eastern jet. headed for New York, ‘his. interest in the .|- possibility ofa conspiracy was: rekindled. | Flanking. him. were’ Senator: Russell B. Long of Louisiana: and Joseph Rault Jr, ° a New Orleans oilman. The: previous. - _ .week,. Long had’ remarked i in the course: of a press « conference that he doubted the, findings of the. Warren’ Commission. It. " was at the height: of. the. contioversy constraint barely sufficient. “for a man to get off two shots from a bolt-action. _ rifle, much less three.” ‘The DA's mind reverted to the strange , trip of pilot David Ferrie, and he began _ to wonder how perceptive the FBI had ‘really been in dismissing the whole thing. "When he returned to New ‘Orleans, he _ ‘went into virtual seclusion in his.study | - at home, Jucubrating. Over the volumes * ! of the Warren Report. ‘When he became — _ - convinced that Oswald could not have - - “acted alone, and that at least a phase of ©. ‘the’ conspiracy. had. been centered i in‘New ~°f “Orleans, he committed ‘his office | toa 0° full-scale probe. ‘He launched. it’ quietly; oo preferring tov work’ more. efficiently in the dark: brought in: for further questioning. : Asked pertinent details of. the whirlwind ms ¥ ‘| ‘Texas trip’in 1963, he ‘begged lack of : memory. -and referred: his: questioners:to . the FBI. What about the'goose hunting? "We did in fact get to where the geese - were. ‘and there were. thousands,” counted: “But you couldn't approach them. They were a wise bunch of birds.” Pressed for details of what took place ai the ice rink, Ferrie became irritated. “Ice \ skate what do you think? ?” he snapped. _ It didn’t take, the DA’s men long to . poke, holes” ‘in: 'Ferrie’s ‘story. ‘Melvin Coffey, one: “of his -companions on thé 2 1963 Texas ‘trip, deposed that it was, hot a ‘sudden inspiration: . Q.: The trip was: arranged before? A. “Yes.” oo. : Q. How. long before? * ALA couple, of days. The probers also. determined that no‘one. |. had’ taken along any shotguns on the | “‘goose-hunting” trip. "In Houston, the ice skating alibi was: ~ similarly discredited: In. 1963, the FBI had interviewed Chuck Rolland, proprie- .tor: of. the Winterland: Skating Rink. “FERRIE contacted him by telephone November 22, 1963, and asked for the skating schedule;”” a. Bureau report, one Ferrie, reveals. “Mr. FERRIE ‘stated . that he was coming in: from out of town and’ desired. to do’ ‘some skating while ‘in: Houston. On November 23, 1963, be-. - tween:3: :30 and 5:30 PM, ‘Mr. FERRIE ‘and two companions. came to the rink. and talked to Mr. ROLLAND. * The report continues that Ferrie ieand Rolla nd ‘he res
"3n-1963. Rolland was ‘certain. that rione tactics of bank robbers i is to escape from «sthe getaway: ‘Garrison’ considers it: pos- had a “short general conversation, and” ‘that Ferrie remarked’ that “the. and ‘his. companions: would be.in and out‘of the skating rink during’ the weekend” (Com- : mission ‘Documents 301). ‘When Garri- son’s men recently talked to Rolland, - they: obtained’ pertinent facts ‘that the - FBI had either missed or failed to report . bitterly. - of, Ferrie as “one. of history’s most im- portant individuals,” most of the préss = winked. knowingly. ‘The probe was, after all, a “publicity. stunt, and the DA had he ‘had. ‘the’ perfect excuse 10 inter his “probe alongside. the deceased : pilot. |’ But for. DA. Jim Garrison, -it was not. , the end but the: beginning, ; of the three men in Ferrie’s party. had i ice skated Ferrie had spent the entire two y "hours he-was at the. rink standing. by a pay telephone —and finally received acall. : > At ‘Houston ‘International. ‘Airport, " cmore information was gleaned. ‘Air serv- ~ ice ‘personnel: seemed: to. recall: that in | .1963 Ferrie: had access to an airplane based in Houston: In this craft; the flight “to Matamoros would take little. more ihanan hour. . ie . Ferrie had patently lied about: the f pur- _pose of the” ‘trip. ‘One: ‘of the. ‘standard vised CAMP STREET, NEW ORLEANS. St., NEW ORLEANS, ‘LAY’ literature that Oswald had i in his posses- . sion- atthe time ‘of his arrest [for “dis- _turbing the peace”’] in New” Orleans, -extensive. ‘investigation ‘was “not. able : to connect Oswald with that address” . |. (Warten. Report, ‘p:.408). So’ said. the. . ; Commission. .But- Garrison ‘has cons ; nected Oswald’ ‘with that address. His ‘ihe’ scene of ‘the crime ina “hot car”? that . -¢annot be traced to. them, then switch : toa “cold car” of their own to complete tioned in ‘a --$ible that’ Ferrie | may ‘have been thé pilo ofa secon 1 craf ina two-stage escape of |. tious “Fair 2 wag nothing more than a facade, The dilapidated building at.544. Camp © backup pilot in 1 the event: contingency plans i were activated. 7 . - Did Ferrie-know Oswald? The pilot " oe denied. it, but the evidence mounts that he ‘did. For. example, ‘there is now: in Garrison’ s hands information that when gation, broke, I-went' to 531 Lafayette. lace, an ‘address given me by Minute- men defector Jerry Milton Brooks as the a - office of Ww. Guy. Banister, a former FBI. ve Jeans library card: issued to David Ferrie : Official -who ran a private ‘detective: S Rein orcing ‘the validity of this. informa-* ” agency. ‘According ‘to. Brooks, who. had’ 2 tion! is a ‘Secret: Service’ report on ‘the 7 been a trusted Minutemen aide; Banister. a questioning. “of Ferrie: by~ that agency .| . was. a ‘member of the’ ‘Minutemen and: ‘when. he was in federal custody. i in 1963..] head of the Anti-Communism League of : During. an; otherwise mild: ‘interrogation, the Caribbean, assertedly an intermedi- Ferrie was asked, strangely enough, ‘iffhe -|" ary: between’ the CIA and Caribbean j in-. surgency. ‘movemients. Brooks said: he. "had. worked . for ‘Banister -on’ “anti- Communist” research i ini 1961-1962, and. had known David Ferrie as‘a frequent visitor’ to Banister’ s Office. es : Orleans public library in ‘the | name Dr:: ~ David Ferrie. ‘That card had. expired.” _ “When he Tealized he was a suspect in _ Garrison's current investigation, Ferrie a Seemed to ‘deteriorate. By- the time he | died. on. February 22,1967, he-was-a 7 Nervous . wreck, ‘su oe igareties and cups of coffee and enough : tranquiti TO paci ad - Sought fe press only days before his - death, labeling the probe a “fraud” and complaining that he was the victim of a a _ "Witch hunt.”’’“‘I_ suppose he has me- Tooks had told. me of two associates whom I hoped to find. One was Hugh F, Ward, a young investigator for Banister. . and the Anti-Communism League, _T learned tha _portedly taught to b pcTd:32745514. Page 46. pegeed a as a getaway pilot, ” he remarked . When Garrison ‘delivered his epitaph had. his headlines. Now. that his | rime 7 HIE THE: LEGEND ‘544 Camp. was stamped on‘ some of the: ib investigation shows: that. Osivald func- Street i is onthe corner ‘of Lafayette Place. -, : Shortly. after news sof: Garrison’ $ irivesti- © Banister had died ofan apparent heart who - also belonged to the Minutemen :, Oo, was’ dead, Re-. “ when it lunged to eerth-neer"Ciudad ’ Victoria, Mexico,: * 1e other associate was Maurice _ Brooks Gatlin Sr, ‘legal counsel to the’ - Anti-Communism’ League’ ‘of the Carib- " a@sort of protegé of Gailin and was in his confidence. Brooks. believed Gatlin’s - 2 fi 66, . self-important manner, that he- had - - / $100,000 of CIA moriey. earmarked fora French right-wing’ clique. that was going. to attempt to assassinate General de * Paris. t “But. the trip to 531 Lafayette Place was “not entirely. fruitless. ‘The:address, Idis- ‘covered, was a side’ entrance to’ 544 Camp Street. Entering either at the front. ‘or ‘the side,. cone ‘afrivés..via a walkup. .-Staircase.at.the. same. second. floor space. and W.: Guy’ Banister & Associates. a Guy Banister. had: been, in charge of.. - the Chicago | FBI office ‘before retiring ‘in’ 1955 ‘and becoming: ‘New| Orleans - *-eral years. ‘He was, regarded. ‘as one of the city’s. most ‘vocal - -anti-Castroites; ‘and _ published the. racist ‘Louisiana Intelli- . "gence Digest, which depicted integration © ~as a communist’ conspiracy. ‘Evidence of -, _ his telationship ‘with the. federal intelli-, gence apparat has- Tecently surfaced..A~ _ gence through the’ ‘recommendation of. ‘Guy: Johnson, an ONI' reserve officer. cand. the. first attorney ‘for -Clay Shaw ° “when hé was arrested by. Garrison. ‘illuminates the Camp Street scene: The ‘Newspaper, which at. the time had an’ ' investigative, team working’ parallel to. ‘the Garrison probe, reported that a re- liable source: close to Banister said he had ‘seen’ 50 to (100° boxes’ marked “Schlumberger” in. Banister’s | office- _ " storeroom early in 1961 before the Bay. of -Pigs. The boxes contained rifle " grenades, land. mines and. unique “little. | he wai € controls of a Piper Aztec - -missiles.” ‘Banister explained that “the RAMPARTS 47 — >. bean. Jerry Brooks said he. had once been. mo pequent-warld travels were asa “trans: . ‘porter’” for the CIA. As an example, he |. said, ‘Gatlin’ remarked about 1962, in a’ -Gaulle; ‘shortly afterward Gatlin flew to - ' That second. floor once housed the Cu- - : os : _ ban Democratic Revolutionary ‘Front — ‘ deputy’ superintendént ‘of police for sev- ae man’ who knew ‘Banister’ well has ‘told i. 7 :.Garrison that | ‘Banister - became * asso-__ : ciated with: ‘the ‘Office of: Naval Intelli- ’ : A copyrighted story inthe New Or- ‘jeans States-Item, April 25, 1967, further oo
. Stuff would just be there overnight ...a ‘bunch of fellows: connected: with the Cuban deal asked to leave: it there over- ; night: * It-was all Tight, assuréd Banister, “T_have approval. from somebody.” The “somebody,” one can surmise. . from the. ‘Gordon Novel épisode which | ‘follows, was the CIA. Novel is wanted Ee ae ar eee a 1961 burglary. of. the Schlumberger Well Subpoenaed. by. the grand jury ‘ fast _ March, Novel fled to McLean, Virginia, _-next door to the CIA complex at Lang- “ley, and ‘took: ‘a lie ‘detéctor tést.admin- James Rhodes, ‘in one surd- stipu ations: ever. attached to a | aia i i I mel ten Fee ae pe - fo question 1 y; nr ater, ~ 2 Ae Seppe ee rig ore eet ape Lg tree pan anges abst Riga S  -capér, Was oie’ of “the most patriotic > ap Ape Wate prising reporter took. him toa marathon party, Novel’s’ indiscreet tongue loos- ened further. According to the States- von Item article, . “count was that the. munitions: bunker. '. destined for.use in the. impending Bay of . Pigs invasion. He is quoted as saying that on’ the day. the munitions were picked’ up,: he: “was. called by his CIA " was ordered to transport munitions from’ ‘the bunker to:New Orleans.” ” The key to : . -David - Ferrie, Sergio Arcacha’’ Smith— - New Orleans: delegate to the Cuban De- 4 y office-storeroom. ; Ferrie worked on and off. for Banister | ' . Office, i . : asan investigator, and the mutual affinity q 4 Miami hearing and delivered an impas- sioned plea on his behalf. When Banister . 48 RAMPARTS ”. by the DA asa inaterial. witness in the’ Co; munitions ‘dump near New Orleans. ; ‘istered : by a “former: “Army intelligence “officer which, ‘he. boasted: ‘to: the. press, : ee, proved Garrison’ s probe was a fraud. He. ‘then skipped: first to. ‘Montreal and then — to Columbus; Ohio, from | where Jover-_ -“ From:his: Ohio Sanctuary. the: fugitive cryptically asserted: that the munitions - "burglaries. in: ‘history. ” When an enter- a Novel’s oft-repeated - ac- ; was CIA staging point for war materiel -.. contact and told to join.a group which : ‘the bunker: was provided by -his CIA | contact. Novel ‘reportedly said: the others . ‘ain the CIA group at the bunker were | “ mocratic¢. Revolutionary Front—and: sev- - ' eral Cubans. The munitions, ‘according . |. to‘his account, were dropped in Novel’s ° Ferrie’s home and Banister’ 's ‘. ~ was such.that in 1962, when Eastern Air | - Lines was in the: process of dismissing . Ferrie for publicity over alleged homo-- sexual acts, Banister. appeared at. a- suddenly died, the.  excpilot evidently acquired ‘part of. his files. ‘yealized h i t in Gar= $ probe, Ferrie s stematically . n et ee ‘the es A at Bat in Photos copying iography of a cancer paper he had written (at one time he had: portion of notes. recording the disposi- tions. Included is the notation: “Copies of B’s [presumably Banister’s} microfilm files to Atlanta rite-Wingers {sic].”” ‘|| The Banister files were: ‘reputed to be" he largest’. ‘collection ‘of “anti-com- munist intelligence” in ‘Louisiana; and part were'sold by his widow to: the Sov- “ereignty ‘Commission, : a ‘ort. ‘of. state HUAC, where a Garrison investigator ’ was able to. examine: “them. ‘Banister’ s filing ‘system was ‘modeled . after ‘the ' FBI's, and contained files on both friends |. “and foes. ‘The “10” and 23" classifica- |. tion dealt with Cuban matters; 23-5, for. - ‘example, was labeled Cuban Democratic _ Revolutionary Front, and: 10-209 simply tae Cuban File. ‘There was amain file, 23-14, a labeled Shaw File, but someone had : ‘completely stripped it before Garrison’ s {fh “man gotthere. The Cuban Democratic Revolutionary ‘Front, which ‘occupied. what was grandi-: | osely called: Suite 6 at: 544 Camp Street," . was. the coalition of. Cuban exile “lib- | “eration” groups ‘operating . under ‘CIA aegis. that mounted thé Bay of: Pigs in- vasion. Arcacha, the New. ‘Orleans: dele- - gate of the. Miami-based: ‘organization, : isa dapper, moustachioed man who had served in Batista’ s. diplomatic: COrps. ' There are numerous’ ‘witnesses who at-. test that he was a confidant of Banister and Ferfie, and that his office was a way . * station. for’ the mixed bag of Cuban - exiles and American’ adventurers in- ‘volved in the “liberation”. movement. ' Late i in 1962; the Front closed’ up shop, ‘at which time . Arcacha. became. a. founder of the Crusade to Free: Cuba, yo a. paramilitary group of - ‘militant: right . -/; wingers. In. March, 1963, -he. ‘moved to’: ‘ Houston, Texas. Early, in “his investiga- _ tion, Garrison charged Arcacha’ with . being a. party to the. munitions burglary. with Novel and Ferrie, but by this time | ~ he.was living in Dallas, where he. refused :t to ‘talk to the DA’s men without Dalias t police and assistant DA Biil. Alexander: present. When - Garrison. ‘obtained | an - arrest warrant. and # sought to extradite caged mice in his home on which he. experimented with cancer implants), he inadvertantly. overlapped ~ the bottom Oe a eemeeeteee him, Texas Governoi John’ Connally would not sign:the papers. . a a “As for Oswald and 544 Camp Street, OE - Garrison declares that ‘‘we have several’: witnesses who can testify. they observed i Oswald there ona: numiber ofoccasions.”. _. _ One witness is David L: ‘Lewis, another. - |  in-Banister’s stable of investigators. In late: 1962, Lewis says,: he. Was, drinking’ ee coffee in thé restaurant next to 544 Camp a Street when Cuban exile Carlos Quiroga,, oo § who. was close to ‘Arcacha, cami in with ia young man ‘he introdiiced ‘as Leon Os. ald. A few days. ‘later, -Lewis ° saw Quiroga, Oswald: and Ferrie: together at ares 544 Camp-Street. A few days after that, . 4 he. barged into. Banister’s: office” and; in-_ terrupted | a meeting “between: Banister, ‘Quiroga;, Ferrie and Leon Oswald. Itv was . ‘not until he was interviewed by Garrison _ e: ’ that Lewis concluded that Léon Oswald. BRE . was probably Lee Harvey. Oswald. Not: |. ing that the “natural: ‘deaths of. Banister: : and* Ferrie were: strikingly. similar,” “Lewis has slipped into seclusion. . «eins THE COMMON smomAronl ‘tember. 16, 1963, a nondescript 7 ‘Leon Oswald, the brilliant, er-". > , ratio” ” David Ferrie, and. a: courtly’. executive-type man: ‘named. Clem Ber-" trand ‘discussed. a guerfilla ° ‘ambush . of. | President ‘Kennedy | in Ferrie’s. apart. ment: There was, talk” of: Ati of fire . labilit: -, the availability: J oné man had to be sacrificed to: give the e other a _one or two gunmen time’ to escape.” Es: cape out of: the country, ‘would be.by as. ‘y plane flown. by Ferrie. This was the‘nub T of the testimony. of: Perry, Raymond. Russo ata: preliminary: hearing for: Clay | Shaw, : accused. by Garrison of. conspir- acy in the assassination. Russo. identified oF Leon Oswald as. Lee Harvey Oswald, and NClem Bertrand as Clay, Shaw. 8 .. What’ would: bring three; ‘such: widely ; ‘disparate | men together:i in, the first place’ . _ One possible. answer: the CIA. On the. fringe of downtown. ‘New Or. - Jeans, the building at.544 ‘Camp § Street is“ “across the. Street from. the: government ™. building, which in 1963 housed. the local ° . CIA headquarters. One: block: away,.:; At. 640, Magazine. Street; is the ‘William B. ‘Reily: Co., a.coffee’ firm: where: ‘Oswald a was: employed that’ pivotal summer. ‘He worked from May 10 to July 19, earning - a total of $548.41 (Commission Exhibits “ _+1154).° Despite® ‘this, he :did- not seem “hard: “Put to support Mari navand their.