_ SUMMARY — PART 6 THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION COVER-UP. 544 CAMP STREET _ 1. Author begins with discussion of Guy Banister's activities on the night that Kennedy was assassinated -~ his pistol whipping of his part-time investigator, Jack S. Martin, who © refused to bring charges against Banister. Turner claims that Banister's office at 544 Camp Street was a "nervecenter for CIA-sponsored operations against Fidel Castro" and Banister . was also aware that Oswald had stamped 544 Camp Street on the lo) pro-Castro literature he had handed out in August of 1963. -“ Turner thinks that Banister was on edge, realizing that a -. thorough investigation in New Orleans, re: Oswald connections, «—- would expose the clandestine network he had erected behind his detective agency, which would implicate David Ferrie and | ‘lead to the CIA's all-Cuban Operation 40, collaborators, , fronts and money conduits, training operations, etc. ‘The morning after the assassination, Secret Service agents -were investigating the 544 Camp Street building, because the address had appeared on Oswald's literature. Agents were trying. to find out whether Oswald had occupied space there. Their in-. quiries did not extend to Banister's office. There was a large. supply of "Hands Off Cuba" handbills in Banister's office. On this same day, Jack Martin contacted the District Attorney's office and alleged that David Ferrie was involved in the assassination. ‘He told Dist. Att. Kohlman about Oswald's Civil Air Patrol association with Ferrie. Martin claimed that : Ferrie involved in the assassination with the role of piloting . an escape plane across the border from Brownsville, Texas. A network correspondent, Robert Mullholland, claimed ina personal interview that he had overheard FBI agents talking about a relationship between Ferrie ‘and Oswald -- the. Saturday after ‘the assassination. Author states that on the Monday after the assassination, FBI agent. HW 54756 Ernest C. Wall, Jr. called Guy Banister, presumably because the Secret Service had connected Banister to Sergio Ara@ach Smith and Wall, who had helped organize the Friegs | of Democtratic Cuba. This piece of information was never called to the attention of | the Warren Commission according | to the author. — DoclId:32245514 Page 91
SUMMARY - Part 6. THE MAN WHO SHOT A BANK - 2 Richard Case Nagell,.age 32 in 1963, had graduated with honors from the Army Military Intelligence School and served . in the Counter Intelligence Corps, who considered hima _~ "perennially calm and level- headed officer of superior | intelligence.' On the afternoon of September 20, 1963, Nagel entered the ‘State: National Bank in El Paso, Texas, shot an automatic weapon into the ceiling and then sat in his car until police _ officers arrested him. He claimed he wanted to be detained by federal authorities. Also claimed that since August 1962, he had been on CIA payroll as an agent, had met Lee Harvey Oswald during this time, and learned of a domestic-inspired plot to assassinate Kennedy. When he reported what he had learned to his CIA contact, he was instructed to "take.care" of Oswald, but refused and sent a letter to J. Edgar Hoover | warning him of the plot. Nagell thought the plot was to take place on September 26. ae Turner learned of this story in 1967 when Nagell was in Leaven- © worth Federal Penitentiary. Turner published an account of Nagell's story in Ramparts magazine in January 1968. Chapter deals with Nagell's background and activities in the. 1960's. Much of the information reported was told by Nagell to a former inmate. Nagell claims to have explored "an- alleged connection between Eladio Del Valle, Sergio Arcacha “Smith;",; and checked'on leads of aDavid Ferrie associate and . tailed a man who supposedly was an ex-CIA employee, who was HW 54756 observed talking to Manuel Artime and Rolando Masferrer. Nagell claims he has a snapshot of himself and Oswald taken in the French Quarter of New Orleans -- but has not produced same. Also claims Oswald was: a "patsy" and states reasons why in this chapter (page 11). Nagell asked to talk to a Secret Service agent when news of ‘Kennedy's assasination reached him in jail. Did not talk when agent arrived because FBI was also present and Nagell upset that. FBI had ignored his previous warning. Nagell ordered to Spring-_ field for psychaiatric observation on January 24, 1964. - He was convicted of bank robbery and given 10 year sentence. Freed in April 1968. Claims CIA contacted him and sent him ona mission > to East Germany in June of 1968. Author says final verdict on Nagell must wait until Nagell produces. snapshot of he and Oswald. Turner does state that Nagell's -story does seem "quite plausible, and there df& no > contradictions in it." . DocId: 322745514 Page 92
SUMMARY - PART 6 THE LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN LINK - 4. Withheld from the Warren Commission was an FBI memo out of Miami on October 3, 1963 which reported that Sam Benton had ~~ been intercepted by Customs as he was ready to fly to Cuba on a bombing mission as well as the FBI raid on the McLaney a property in Louisiana two weeks earlier. The Senate Intelligence | Committee cited this as an important example of the FBI efforts to protect its image by hiding factssbout its alleged laxity . in the surveillance of Oswald prior to Kennedy's assassination. The Committee did note that Rolando Cubela (AMLASH) was tanked. to the Lake Pontchartrain group by a man referred to in the Committee report as "A". The information "A" revealed raised “the possibility that organized crime figures may have been aware of the AMLASH operation. Turner suggests that "A" was Carlos Hernandez, who, with Sam _ Benton, was detained in the Miami and Lake Pontchartrain raids. ' Hernandez and Benton became business partners in a Miami gun © shop in 1964. The author discusses the Senate Intelligence Committee report which discusses the connection of the ousted gambling bosses and the Cuban exiles. Suggests there was an abundance of motive and that Bobby Kennedy was the person they were after, through the assassination of his brother, the President. Jose Aleman, a Miami exile businessman, was an FBI source of information. Aleman reported a Santos Trafficante prediction that Kennedy was going to be "hit" but was ignored by the FBI. Shortly after the assassination (within hours) the FBI’ were quizzing Aleman as asked him not to say anything to anybody. Turner contends that if the mob was involved, Oswald would qualify in their eyes as the kind of "nut" to set up to do the job. He also notes that on August 5, 1963, Oswald unaccountably became an "interchangeable man" -~ working both the pro and anti Castro sides in New Orleans. His overtures to Carlos Bringuier -came only days after published reports of the seizure of munitions on the McLaney property. — Turner says Bringuier was connected | with the training camps in that area. When Oswald was jailed after his confrontation with ‘Bringuier on Canal Street (FPCC literature handouts), Oswald requested to see an FBI agent -- Agent John Quigley went to the jail and talked to him for an hour and a half. Tuner discusses the stamping of 544 Camp Street on Oswald's hand- outs -~- suggesting (1) Oswald may have been working for Guy Banister who had a "stable" of young men that inflitrated “HW 54756 leftist groups, or (2) Oswald may have been drawn to Camp Street through David Ferrie, his old CAP commander. “Docld:322945514 Page 93
The Lake Pontchartrain Link - Page 2 David rerrie was in contact with key personnel of. the Cuban Revolutionary Council from Miami and New Orleans. Sergio -’ Arcacha Smith wrote to the Chairman of.the Board of Eastern Airlines (by whom Ferrie was employed as a pilot) uring him to grant Ferrie "an extended leave with pay so that the work at hand can be completed." Ferries activities training units in guerrilla warfare near Lake Ponchartrain is discussed © - on the basis of a statement of John Irion on May 3, 1967. Through the Garrison investigation, Thomas E. Beckham is linked _to Ferrie through the Apostolic Orthodox Old Catholic Church. Also linked, at this point in the manuscript, is Fred Lee _Crisman, a former Army pilot living in Tacoma, Washington. ' Chrisman, subpoenaed by Garrison, said he knew Beckham had handled large sums of money for the Cuban freedom fighters. / cor HW 54756 An informant told Garrison that Crisman was also in touch with. Sergio Arcacha Smith and Clay Shaw. Turner states that since the testimony of Perry Russo to the effect that he, Oswald and Ferrie had discusses a'JFK assassination plot could not be robraberated, the Garrison investigation of Clay Shaw was "struck’ a mortal blow". Turner also states,-.based on the statement of former CIA employee Victor Marchetti, that the CIA wanted to give Shaw all the help they could, since Shaw had been an ' agency contact and Ferrie had been a contract agent at the time of the assassination. Docld:32245514 Page 94
@ SUMMARY - PART 6 OSWALD AND THE CUBANS - 5 Nearly the entire chapter is drawn from previous published material: (properly footnoted) dealing with Oswald's connections with the Cuban community . and Jack Ruby's associations with Ray McKeown. McKeown | was a known gunrunner, arrested in 1958 and Carlos Prio for smuggling weapons into Cuba for Fidel Castro's revolution against Batista. McKeown served six months in oo: jail, returned to Houston, Texas and wished to stay away from . ‘any further gunrunning activities. Turner suggests that | McKeown was contacted by CIA and Miami "intelligence officers" for various assignments. About a week after Castro assumed — power in Cuba, McKeown was approached by Jack ‘Ruby who wanted him to use his influence with Castro for the release of three persons jailed in Havana (Warren Commission, Vol 23). Turner discusses the alleged McKeown/Oswald. contact of late August 1963 which was reported in the CBS special report on - the JFK assassination on December 7, 1975 (Three Witnesses". Turner said CBS did not air McKeowns account of his Ruby contacts and no one asked him, but a friend of his, Sam Neil, * - corroborated his story about meeting with Oswald. Also mentioned @ is a visit by George deMohrenschildt to McKeown soon after the Oswald visit in which de Mohrenschildt advises McKeown — not to take Oswald seriously. The story involves a visit. to McKeown's home by Oswald and a Cuban KcKeown believed to be "Hernandez". The two wished to buy four unregistered | -300 Savage semiautomatic rifles with telescopic sights. Turner suggests these would be appropriately used in hunting or assassi- nation, but not for guerilla warfare. - Turner discusses ‘next Oswald's five- -day trip to Mexico City, the ‘photo mistakenly identified as Oswald by the CIA, and the way. the Warren Commission handled the entire episode. He also deals. |. with the WC handling of the Sylvia Odio incident. Turner in- dicates both incidents indicate impersonation of Oswald.. -Turner questioned several Miami paramilitary and exile sources —- as to the identify of the man pictured in front of the Cuban | embassy in Mexico City. He suggests the person is Johnny | Mitchell Devereau, aka Johnny Mitchell who fought in Castro's revolution and was in contact with Frank Sturgis when they were in Cuba. Turner's Miami sources think Devereau did contract assignments for the CIA. Turner suggests two Oswald impersonations. after his return from Mexico City. One--in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, by a man giving & his name as Oswald, trying to rent an apartment -- is contained -in the Orleans Parish District Attorney Files, interview of Mrs. Alvene Magee. HW 54756 Docld:32245514 Page 935
OSWALD AND THE CUBANS —- 5 Page 20 The second incident, reported in the Warren Commission, in- volves the statement of a Dallas car salesman who wrote Oswald's name down as a prospective customer, after showing him a car. Turner states unequivically that Oswald could not drive. Turner next discusses the fact that Tony Veciana appeared before - the House Select Committee on Assassinations -- behind closed doors. Turner gets his information from Jack Anderson column of January 19, 1977. This information about Veciana testifying before this Committee is incorrect, but the published article. by Anderson follows an internal memo about an interview with Veciana. Turner next summarizes the recent publicity of Frank Sturgis’ s ‘arrest at the request of Martia Lorenz and suggests that the ensuing publicity attracted this Committee's investigators. This, also, is incorrect information as our investigators were interviewing Lorenz. two days prior to the Sturgis arrest in New York City. In a "Supplementary Investigative Report" dated November 23, 1963, Dallas deputy sheriff Buddy Walthers advised the Secret Service that some Cubans had been using a Dallas residence for meetings. Secret Service showed no interest in this but a recently released FBI report indicates the address on © ‘Harlendale was the local branch of Alpha 66. Turner also discusses the FBI memo which stated that the bullet that struck HW 54756 Kennedy and Gonnally would not fit USMC weapons and "gives rise to the obvious speculation that it is a contract for ammunition placed by CIA with Western under a USMC cover for concealment purposes. " = . DocId: 32245514 Page 936
ooo “NS _ AW 54756 SUMMARY - PART 6 THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION COVER-UP | JACK RUBY AND ‘THE CUBA MAFIA - ‘6. Begins with the Ruby eight-day visit to ‘Cuba as the guest of Lewis J. McWillie, craps table supervisor at the Tropicana in -1959. Ruby told the Warren Commission . that this was a pleasure’ trip and this was accepted by the WC. Turner ‘points out that the trip does not seem too innocent for the following reasons: .During his Havana stay, Ruby boasted to two American tourists '.that he was "in with both sides" according to Thayer Waldo. Ruby claimed friendship with Rolando Masferreré Hamleto Batisti. on Ruby did not return directly to Dallas as claimed by the WC. He actually proceeded to Miami and then doubled back to Havana. A Miami Beach bartender, Meyer R. Panitz, said Lewis McWillie called him in the summer of 1959 advising that "Ruby had visited him in Cuba and was then in Miami Beach". U.S. Immigration documents show that Ruby flew back to Havana from Miami on Sept. 12 on Pan Am flight 415. The next day, he boarded Delta flight 750 to New Orleans - and presumably flew on to Dallas from New Orleans. — According to a cargo pilot, Blaney Mack Johnson, he told FBI that Ruby had been engaged in gunrunning and was part owner of 2 planes used for this purpose. Also alleges that Ruby purchased a substantial share in a Havana gambling house in which (Carlos Prio was principle owner. An account recorded about’ three women who met Ruby in 1958 when they were staying with a relative, James Woodard, on Islamerada in the Florida Keys. FBI verified that Woodward was implicated in weapons smuggling for and against _ Castro. Women say this."Jack" had some crates supposedly containing arms and ammunition to be smuggled into Cuba. Blaney Johnson also alleges that Ruby | was associated with Edward J. Browder, Jr. who was involved in gunrunning to Castro. Browder denied knowing Ruby but Turner points out that Browder was tied in with the same Tropicana Casino crowd as Ruby. oe Turner says the WC neglected to ask Jack Ruby if he knew Norman Rothman, who had worked at Tropicana and was involved in gun- -running. Ruby did claim acquaintanceship with Martin and William Fox, principle owners of the Tropicana. DoctId: 32245514 Page 97
Summary - Part 6 The Kennedy Assassination Cover-Up 7 Jack Ruby and the Cuba Mafia ' Page 2 Turner writes that the contention that Ruby was involved in gun- running is hardly dimmed by his friendship with Lewis McWillie and. the Fox brothers. His remard at the Tropicana-that he was -"“in with both. sides" was entirely consistent with the situation — at the time. Nancy Perrin Rich, a former barmaid at the Carousel Club, claims she and her husband encountered Ruby in summer of 1962 when they “were asked to become involved ina -gunrunning: operation into cuba. A former Dallas policemen, Harry N. Olsen, was interviewed by. Turner in 1968 and he claimed that in the summer of 1962, Ruby left on.a two-week trip to New Orleans and Havana to pick up an act for the club. He returend "tight-lipped" and without an act. Ruby's brother, Earl, sent a telegram to Havana on April 1, 1962. Turner says that likelihood of Ruy going to Havana just before. the missle crisis is "remote" Rumors in the Cuban community in Miami after the assassination were to the effect that Ruby had been in Havana fairly recently, - and was the owner of a tourist office in the Seville Biltmore Hotel. Claimed he was a friend and client of a person named Praskin who owned a shop in the hotel. Ruby remarked, in .con- nection with his 1959 visit, that he was a friend of Hamleto Batisti, once the owner of the Seville Biltmore. “Turner discusses Ruby ' S possible ‘connection with the Chicago mob. Jack Wilner, of Chicago Daily News, pegged Ruby as being “in- volved in 1947 with Nick De John, Paul Labriola, Marcus Lipsky and Paul Roland Jones, in an effort to take over gambling in the Dallas area." Those cited by Wilner were members of Chicago outfit. Jones admitted he knew Ruby and visited him when in “Dallas. Joe Civello, Dallas regional capo, claimed to have seen Ruby only a few times prior to 1958. Bobby Gene Moore, a Civello family acquaintance and part-time piano player at Carousel Club, said Ruby was a "frequent visitor and associate” of Civello. Moore report was published only briefly in the WC report -- the remainder in the Archives. - Tuner discusses Ruby! s possible connection with the Teamster' s HW 54756 Union and quotes an organizer, Leopoldo Ramos Ducso as saying that around September 1961, Frank Chavez told him that he (Chavez) had appointment to meet Richard Kavner, International Vice Pres. of Teamsters and Jack Ruby. Chavez was Sec-Treas. for Teamster~ ‘local in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Docld:32245514 Page 98
HW 54756 ‘Summary - Part 6. The Kennedy Assassination Cover- Up ' Jack Ruby and the Cuba Mafia ~ 6. page 3 Turner cites several instances which indicate that Chavez wished to kill Robert Kennedy. Chavez was, himself, murdered in 1964. ‘Turner discusses theory of W. R.- Morris, author of Twelfth of August, who tells of a contact with a former CIA man now in California who links Eladio del Valle (who has smuggling ties with Trafficante) to David Ferrie and Jack Ruby. Morris and CIA former employee give gtory to Rockefeller Commission ‘in form of affidavits which were rejected. Also went to NBC television and taped. an interview which was never aired. ‘Also discussed in this chapter is the possible role of Jim ‘Braden in the assassination -~- Peter Noyes theory: is reviewed. Discussion of Carroll E. Jarnagin story that he had seen: ‘oswald and Ruby together at Carousel Club. Discussion of Hugh A. Morrow’ story that Oswald had applied for a job at the Allright Parking. System next door to the Carousel . Club about a week prior ‘to the assassination. Docld: 3232345514 Page 99
HW 54756 CONTRACT ON KENNEDY ~. 7 The author relates an incident alleged to have taken place hours after Ruby killed Oswald. A phone call was placed to Seymour Ellison, a law partner of Melvin Belli, from a Las Vegas attorney who stated that there was a. million dollars in it if Belli would defend Ruby, described as "one of our guys". Ellison knew that the firm of this attorney represented organized crime figures who had been ousted from Cuba by Castro. Shortly after the first call, the attorney again called Ellison and stated that Ruby was in with another element and his clients didn't want to get involved in any way. Turner suggests this other "element" . Might have been a Mafia cabal pursuing the assassination of Fidel. Castro. : Turner continues at this point to discuss the inadequacies of the investigative work done by the CIA and FBI immediately after the assassination. He says both agencies failed to investigate properly Oswald's Cuban connections. He thinks the possibility exists in both agencies that senior officials made conscious decisions to n& disclose important information.. . Turner discusses. at: length; in this chaper, the findings of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence -- the AMLASH operation of the CIA using Rolando Cubela (allegedly), the separate Mafia-CIA plots against Castro's life, involving James P. O'Connel and William K Harvey of the CIA and | Robert A. Maheau, formerly of the FBI. Turner says Maheau was the CIA's link to the Mafia through he friendship with Johnny Roselli. He relates an incident in which Roselli was offered $150,000 to cover the cost of a Castro assassination - plot. Such an attempt would have to be cleared with Santos Trafficante, and Roselli used Sam Giancana to solicit Trafficante. Oe Maheau, Roselli, Trafficante and a Cuban exile leader formulated ‘a plan to poison Castro, and believed it worked, until the Bay of Pigs invasion took place and Castro showed no signs of illness.After one more poisoning attempt, Roselli group turned to guns as a means of assassination. By early 1963, the CIA had lost interest in sponsoring plots against Castro! Ss life. Turner relates that Castro and Kennedy were conducting "behind- the-scenes negotiations aimed at rapprochement" and that it was ‘unlikely that Castro would initiate a plot against Kennedy if such negotiations were going on. Docld:32245514 Page 100°
HW 54756 Contract on Kennedy Page 2 The author goes into a lengthy discussion of the possible role played by Washington lawyer Edward P. Morgan, whose clients included Howard Hughes, the Teamsters, Society of: Former Special Agents of the FBI, and several organized crime figures. Morgan contacted Drew Pearson in January 1968 and told him of plots against Castro, stating that his sources were clients who had taken part in the plots. He claims Castro learned of the plots and sent an assassination a team to the United States to kill Kennedy. No particular. reason is to be found for Morgan's withholding of this - information for three years but Turner suggests two possible “reasons: one,that it coincided with the Garrison investigation and two, it might have been instigated by Johnny Roselli who. | was under threat of deportation. For some reason or other, the deportation proceedings Stalled. ‘Turner suggests: that the June 24 and August 7, 1976 murders of Giancana and Roselli respectively may have been committed to silence them because of what they knew about the Kennedy assassination. Columinst Jack Anderson wrote. that Roselli had "hinted" to his associates that: che knew who had arranged for Kennedy's murder. Turner says it is hard to believe that Castro would use Cuban Mafia hirlings to "hit" Kennedy, as Roselli had suggested. , Turner next discusses the McLaney brothers from New Orleans, the amount of real estate they had lost in Cuba when Castro took over, the fact that they had their own air force, and had sent the CIA a detailed plan for bombing Havana oil refineries. Turner says that at the time the CIA was helping anti-Castro action groups, the FBI and Customs service were raiding groups that assumed they had government immunity. ‘The McLaneys were among this group. .Sam Benton, an associate . of the McLaneys, was grabbed by Customs agents. Undaunted, Benton and his Cuban exiles set up a training camp north of Lake Ponchartrain, owned by William McLaney. The camp was raided and eleven men detained by the FBI -- including Sam Benton and four Cubans who had been detained by Customs in Florida in June. Rich Lauchli, supplier of munitions, was also detained. Details of this raid were never given to the Warren Commission. These omissions were important, according to Turner, because DocId:322745514 Page 101 .
HW 54756 Contract on Kennedy - 7 Page 3 Castro assassination plans were still in the works. Turner then tells of the plot to poison Castro using a pen. This was to be carried out through AMLASH, and the pen was actually given to him the day Kennedy was shot. The existence of the AMLASH Plots likewise was _withheld from the Warren Com- mission. Turner suggests that evidence has surfaced that certain of Benton's contacts continued to plan Castro's assassination . independent of the CIA. He discusses certain recent dis- ‘ closures of Edward I. Arthur, a weapons supplier for Commandos | L. One such account allegedly involves a meeting in September 1963 near Miami Beach, involving Benton, Arthur, and a tough- looking Italian who offered $90,000 for Castro's assassination. © Turner has talked to Arthur about this incident. Arthur said the meeting place was the home of Marcos Perez Jimenez. . The manuscript ends in the middle of the discussion of - this incident. Docld: 32945514 Page 102
HW 54756 THE MIAMI INSTANT REPLAY. (No Chapter Number Assigned) Miami, in the period immediately following the assissination of President Kennedy, was rife with misinformation concerning the presence of Lee Harvey Oswald in the Miami area in the 1962-63 period. Turner discusses some of the alleged sitings of Oswald as follows: . ; An annoymous: letter out of Cuba addressed to Oswald, dated November 10, was signed by Pedro Charles... Predictably,. it was intercepted by the Secret Service. The letter suggested . that Oswald had been paid by Charles to carry out a shooting mission. A letter accusing Oswald of the shooting, and typed. on the same typewriter, was sent to Robert Kennedy, accusing _ Pedro Charles of hiring Oswald to do the deed. ‘Both letters’ were mailed the day after the assassination. WOAM radio talk show host, Alan Courtney, of Miami, contacted the FBI four days after the assassination regarding. a claim by John V. Martino, a former Castro prisoner, that © Oswald was in Cuba between September and October, 1963. He also claimed Oswald had distributed pro-Castro literature | in Miami, printed by a Miami printer. The DRE was also spreading similar disinformation. - The Pompano Beach Sun Sentinel. published a story on November 26 that Frank Sturgis said that Oswald had had telephone conversations with Cuban Intelligence during November 1962. The article was bylined by James i: Buchanan and denied by Sturgis. Author Nathaniel ‘Weyl notified the FBI in March, “1964, that Oswald had a fight with Jerry Buchanan in Miami early in 1963 when Buchanan was a member of the International - Anti-~ . Communist Brigade. 7 All these sightings conflict with known ‘employment records of Oswald, and Turner suggests that a plausible answer is that Oswald was being impersonated ~~ one of a series of such episodes that began with the Bolton Ford incident (discussed in detail in Ghapter 3, Part 6.) The remainder of this section is , given over to a discussion of the Sylvia Odio incident, in which the author leans heavily on the testimony of Loren Hall. Turner says the failure of the Warren Commission to adequately resolve this episode left a "nagging" mystery open -- "Who, knowing that Oswald was en route to Mexico City, enacted the tableau at the Odio apartment to set up Oswald's propensity to kill Kennedy?" . Docld: 322745514 Page 103
THE NEW ORLEANS CONNECTION - 17 New Orleans in the 1960's, with its sizeable Cuban colony, was a receptive. arm of the Cuba Project that reached over from Miami. In 1960, the Front sent Sergio Arcacha Smith to New Orleans, where he established an office in the Balter “Building and, according to Turner, received a. CIA dole for. his anti- -Castro activities. . oe Tn addition to CIA money, Smith engaged in several fund- raising activities and became associated with Ronnie Caire, a public relations man in the New Orleans area. Caire solicited support from. such prominent conservatives as Dr. Alton Oschner of the Oschner Clinic and William Reily, of . the Reily Coffee Company (a one-time employer of Lee Harvey Oswald). ; The creation of Friends of bemocratic ‘Cuba by Arcacha Smith, _ with the aid of Guy Banister, Grady C. Durham, and. William ~Dalzell, was, according to an unnamed "insider", “an under- cover operation in conjunction with the CIA and FBI which “involved the shipment and transportation of individuals and ™ | supplies in and out of Cuba." Turner says that the FDC had ® as its liaison with the intelligence community one Guy P. Johnson, a reserve commander of ONI,.Lloyd Ray of the CIA and Regis Kennedy of the FBI. According to Turner sources, Kennedy (Regis) bypassed local FBI authorities. and sént daily reports directly to Assistant to the Director John Pp, Mohr in Washington, D. Cc. a A discussion of the situation in and around New Orleans about. the time of the Bay of Pigs invasion, indicates that the CIA leased a banana boat, flying the Costa Rican flag, to Nino. Diaz, co-founder of the MRR. The boat, the Santa Ana, was to be used to transport men for a landing. planned asa diversionary measure at the time of the primary invasion. A training camp north of Lake Pontchartrain was used by Diaz. ‘with Arcacha coordinating their activities. = _ Drawn to the Cuba Project, inevitably, was former FBI agent Guy Banister. His background activities in Anti-Communist _- Leagues, the Minutemen in Louisiana (according to Jerry Milton . ' Brooks) made this a natural movement and his office at 544 Camp Street. became a vortex for all kinds. of conspirators. Turner says that William Dalzell, --"ex-CIA man’who was a mainspring of the Friends of Democratic Cuba, virtually lived on the second ; - floor of 544 Camp Street." Ricardo Davis told of a discussion involving the placing of poison in the ventillating. system of @ Havana Presidential Palace and killing all occupants. oO HW 54756 Docld:32245514 Page 104.
@ The New Orleans: Connection — Page 2 Jack S. Martin claims that Banister spent.long hours with Orlando Piedra, chief of Batista's secret police. David Ferrie was also closely associated with the Banister office operations | as the Bay of Pigs loomed. Turner says that _Ferrie's roommate (Beauboeu£?) said Ferrie was used in the undercover operations of. the FDC and Ferrie claimed he was working for the CIA rescuing Cubans out of. Castro’ s prisons “in Cuba. : Another member of this group was Gordon Novel, who ran a’ _ business called Electronics Systems International Corp., "which was an elegant way of saying he was in the tapping -. and bugging business" according to Turner. According. to :. the States-Item, Novel operated the Evergreen Advertising Agency as a CIA communications front. Novel, fearful of being called’ to testify in Garrison's investigation, vacated his apartment'so hurridly that he left behind'a letter to a "Mr. Weiss" his CIA contact. . According to Turner, the letter indicated Novel was afraid he might have to testify about ‘ Top Secret matters involving actions of. persons connected » with the Double-Chek Corporation in Miami ‘in the first @ quarter of 1961. 7 Close to the date of the Bay of Pigs invasion, Novel,.Ferrie, Arcacha and several other Cubans picked up a load of munitions from a bunker belonging to the Schlumberger Well Services Co. What Garrison charged was a burglary, Novel described as a war materiels pickup made at the direction. of his CIA contact. Jack Martin claims that a few days before the "burglary" he ‘heard Guy Banister making time and date arrangements for the — ‘pickup with an executive of Schlumberger. Novel said that the munitions were stored temporarily in his own office, at Ferrie's residence and Banister's office. Eventually they were moved to the lower decks of the Santa Ana and a week before the | invasion, she set off from Algiers Naval Base headed for Cuba. ; ; This. portion. of the manuscript parently incomplete, as the * . story ends at this juncture. HW 54756. DocId: 32245514 Page 105
HW 54756 THE BOLTON FORD INCIDENT - 3.-. Oscar W. Deslatte, assistant manager of the Bolton Ford Truck Center in New Orleans, informed FBI agents shortly after the Kennedy assassination, that on January 20, 1961, an incident occurred which he felt should be reported, On the January 1961 date, Deslatte said two men who said they represented the Friends of Democratic Cuba, came to the truck center saying they were interested. in purchasing ten Econoline vans, and wanted a dealer' s cost because the vans were to be used to fight against Castro. A deal was arranged with the manager of the center, Fred A. Sewell, and a bid formed filled out, and signed "Oswald". Three. years later when Oswald was identified as the slayer of President Kennedy, Deslatte recognized him as the man who had signed the bid form. The FBI sent-.two agents to the truck center and confiscated the bid form which Deslatte still had on file. The FBI report of this incident was - never published in the Warren Commission Report. Jim Garrison, in preparation of his investigation in 1967, uncovered the report in the National Archives, and realized that Oswald was living in Russia at the time the Bolton Ford incident was to have occurred. . ‘Turner suggests this as another of the imposter incidents ‘which surround Oswald. He-also states that on June 3, 1960, J. Edgar Hoover sent a confidential memo to-the State Department raising the possibility that Oswald's credentials were being used by someone else -- either in the United States or in Russia. Warren Commission W. David Slawson said he had no memory of ever having seen the memo -- Howard P. Willens, a Commission ‘staff counsel conceded that he had seen it. Slawson hinted that a "general CIA effort to take out. anything that reflected on them may have covered this up.” — Identified asa co-author,’ is a person named Hinckle. He talked to a-friend of his who had spent "ten years on the CIA roster"... This person alleges that the CIA kept the Cubans . on the string for years after the Bay of Pigs and most of them - ended up in narcotics or smuggling. He also said opium smuggling _ was standard operating proc-dure for CIA and Air America "guys". Also asserts that if any one even remotly connected with the CIA .. had any part in the assassination, the CIA would cover it up ' as a matter of survival for the CIA because of the public "can of worms" such knowledge would open up. It was also this CIA connected person's opinion that Oswald obviously had an intelligence background. Docla: 32945514 Page 106
The Bolton Ford Incident Page 2 ' Turner suggests that revelation.of the Bolton Ford incident might have unravelled the entire anti-Castro infrastructure . that the CIA had put together and, therefore, supressed. 7 He further states that it is indeed possible that Oswald's identify was "borrowed" while he lived in Russia. Even after Oswald! s return to ‘the United States, "bogus" Oswalds kept appearing. One such time-is the alleged meeting with Sylvia Odio. In late October 1963,.an Oswald ‘look-alike answered an apartment rental ad in Baton Rouge, gave the name Oswald, reported that his wife was Russian and talked about having a gun with a telescopic sight. On November 9, there is a report from a car salesman that Oswald was a prospective used car buyer. The mix-up in identities at the Cuban and Soviet embassies in Mexico City _is still another possible attempt to establish Oswald's ‘presence.at a certain place and time. Turner says, in the course of researching his book, "the .. authors talked to several paramilitary and Cuban exile HW 54756 sources in Miami who believe he (the mystery man in the ‘Mexico City photo) is Johnny Mitchell Devereau, also known as Johnny Mitchell". Turner places Mitchell and a friend, Jack Cannon, aka Jack Shea, in Cuba in 1959 as tourist - police, later in Miami and acquainted with Frank Sturgis. Turner's sources further maintain that Devereau became a contract employee of the CIA. A’ Case Study in Cover-Up Subdivision of ‘The Bolton Ford Incident Discusses the professional way ‘the CIA plugged léaks about _the existence of Brigade 2506 before and after the Bay of Pigs, convincing newsmen and families of Brigade members that public knowledge of their activities would endanger their lives and threaten national security. Cites a similar plea for self- censorship when the Glomar Explorer incident involving Howard Hughe's undersea mining craft started to leak to the press. Allegedely, after the Bay of Pigs invastion, an intensive cover-up was conducted at CIA headquarters.and Charles J. V. Murphy, a good friend of Allen Dulles, wrote in the September 1961 issue of Fortune that the greenhorns in the White House and vacillating diplomats of State were responsible for the _ failure of the invasion. Docld: 322745514 Page 107
HW 54756. The Bolton Ford Incident Page 3 Turner petitioned the National Security Council for a copy of a report of a Presidential committee assembled to con- duct a post-mortem of the Bay of Pigs invasion. He says members of this elite committee were Robert Kennedy, General Maxwell Taylor, Admiral Arleigh Burke and Allen Dulles. The. report of the committee was discussed in E. Howard Hunt's book, Give Us This Day, Hunt being involved the the CIA '- portion of the report. The National Security Council cannot locate a. copy of this report. An upshot: of the report was direction from the President. that no operations should cross agency lines, and therefore, the CIA steped up the tempo of its activities, working on a smaller scale but with greater Frequency. . . The Intelligence Ambience Subdivision of The Bolton Ford Incident The FBI interviewed, on February 26-28, 1964, defected KGB official, Yuri Ivanovich Nosenko about Oswald's stay in the .- Soviet Union. Nosenke said he had handled the KGB file on Oswald and that the Russian's considered him.a possible | "sleeper" American agent. They tried to get him out of the country and vetoed his return when he applied for a visa in Mexico City. . He also described Oswald as a poor shot. The CIA was initially suspicious of Nosenko but, as. John McCone | recently. explained, are now in the position to believe that the information was correct. Turner questions Oswald’ Ss discharge from the Marines on a hardship basis and his immediate departure to the Soviet Union -- the job he obtained upon his return with a graphics art company which required security clearances of other employees and not Oswald -- and his. very strange friendship with the George HeMohrenschildts when he and Marina returned , to Dallas. 544 Camp Street, New orleans Subdivision of The Bolton Ford Incident Based: on lengthy interviews of Jerry Milton Brooks, the. -author puts forth information about activities centered around the 544 Camp Street address, most of which is repeated _ in other sections of the manuscript. Claims that Brooks worked briefly for Banister in 1961 compiling intelligence . material and delivering packets to the local FBI office. -Brooks also maintained that the #2 local Minuteman was a Banister aide, Hugh F. Ward. Ward died in a plane crash. in. Ciudad Victoria on May 23, 1965. Brooks discussed another Bannister associate, Maurice B. Gatlin, Sr. Connects Banister and Gatlin through the Anti-. Communist League of the Carribean -- offshoot of a global body. Docld: 322745514 Page 106
WW 54756 The Bolton Ford Incident Page 4 Brooks believed that the frequency of Gatlin's world travel were in the capacity of a "transporter" for the CIA, arranging for movement of people and money. A further discussion is given of the presence of Colonel Orlando Piedra in the Banister innercircle and Turner suggests that it was Piedra who was the New Orleans chief ‘of Operation 40, the all-Cuban supersecret CIA unit... After the Bay of Pigs, Operation 40 regouped and continued until 1972. It participated in the hunt for Che Guevara in Bolivia in 1967 and Eugenio Martinez was on its payroll when arrested © ‘for the Watergate breakin. The late Juaquin Sanjenis was chief of Operation 40 and Felix. Gutierrez was second in command. _ Next portion of the manuscript deals with a lengthy discussion of David Ferrie and his activities in and around the Miami/ | .New Orleans area in the early 1960's. Discusses his par- ticipation in the "crusade against Castro". According to exile journalist Diego Gonzales Tendedera, Ferrie worked “with Eladio Cerefino del Valle to carry. out aerial missions. Gonzales said Del Valle told him that Ferrie was :given $1,000 to $1,500 ° per flight into Cuba, depending on whether they would just ‘drop bombs or would land to pick up refugees. Jack Carter, an aviator for MIRR under CIA jurisdiction, says he knew Ferrie in 1963 having met him in the- ready room restricted to CIA-approved flight personnel at an old military ‘airfield near Tampa. - Carter was interviewed | in May 1975. Turner claims the Secret Service never entertained the notion . that Oswald might. have been aligned with anti- -Castroites. ‘Latter part of this chapter deals with Thomas E. Beckham and. the connection he allegedly had activities in the New Orleans area in the early 1960's, as uncovered by the Garrison in- vestigation. _ The connection of Beckham and Fred Lee’ Crisman is discussed, but the author draws no conclusions. . furner feels that the significance of the Bolton Ford incident . imply that, if elements of the anti-Castro movement were impersonating Oswald, it is conceivable that they set him ‘up as a dupe in. the Kennedy assassination. Docld: 322745514 Page 109