textfiles-politics/pythonCode/output/deaths.xml

<xml><p>From "CROSSFIRE" by <ent type = 'person'>Jim Marrs</ent>
ISBN 0-88184-524-8
Copyright (c) 1989 by <ent type = 'person'>Jim Marrs</ent>
First published by Carroll &amp; Graf 1989</p>

<p>Reprinted without permission</p>

<p>    CONVENIENT DEATHS</p>

<p>   In the three-year period which followed the murder of President
 <ent type = 'person'>Kennedy</ent> and <ent type = 'person'>Lee Harvey <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent></ent>, 18 material witnesses died - six by
 gunfire, three in motor accidents, two by suicide, one from a cut
 throat, one from a karate chop to the neck, five from natural causes.
   An actuary, engaged by the London Sunday Times, concluded that on
 November 22, 1963m the odds against these witnesses being dead by
 February 1967, were one hundred thousand trillion to one.</p>

<p>  The above comment on the deaths of assassination witnesses was published in
a tabloid companion piece to the movie _Execution Action_, released in 1973.
By that time, part of the mythology of the <ent type = 'person'>Kennedy</ent> assassination included the
mysterious deaths of people who were connected with it.
  By the mid-1960s, people in Dallas already were whispering about the
number of persons who died under strange or questionable circumstances.  Well
into the 1980s, witnesses and others were hesitant to come forward with
information because of the stories of strange and sudden death that seemed to
visit some people with information about the assassination.
  Finally, in the late 1970s, the House Select Committee on Assassinations
felt compelled to look into the matter.
  But aside from discrediting the London Sunday Times actuarial study, the
Committee was unable to come to any conclusions regarding the growing number
of deaths.  The Committee said it could not make a valid actuarial study due
to the broad number and types of persons that had to be included in such a
study.
  In response to a letter from the Committee, London Sunday Times legal
manager <ent type = 'person'>Anthony Whitaker</ent> stated:</p>

<p> Our piece about the odds against the deaths of the <ent type = 'person'>Kennedy</ent> witnesses
 was, I regret to say, based on a careless journalistic mistake and
 should not have been published.  This was realized by The Sunday Times
 editorial staff after the first edition - the one which goes to the
 United States... - had gone out, and later editions were amended.
 There was no question of our actuary having got his answer wrong: it
 was simply that we asked him the wrong question.  He was asked what
 were the odds against 15 named people out of the population of the
 United States dying within a short period of time, to which he replied
 - correctly - that they were very high.  However, if one asks what are
 the odds against 15 of those included in the Warren Commission Index
 dying within a given period, the answer is, of course, that they are
 much lower.  Our mistake was to treat the reply to the former question
 as if it dealt with the latter - hence the fundamental error in our
 first edition report, for which we apologize.</p>

<p>  This settled the matter for the House Committee, which apparently made
little or no attempt to seriously study the number of deaths that followed
the <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent> assassination.
  <ent type = 'person'>Jacqueline Hess</ent>, the Committee's chief of research for the <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent>
investigation, reported:</p>

<p> Our final conclusion on the issue is that the available evidence does
 not establish anything about the nature of these deaths which would
 indicate that the deaths were in some manner, either direct or
 peripheral, caused by the assassination of President <ent type = 'person'>Kennedy</ent> or by
 any aspect of the subsequent investigation.</p>

<p>  However, an objective look at both the number and the causes of death
balanced against the importance of the person's connection to the case, still
causes raised eyebrows among those who study such a list.
  In this section, people who were connected - no matter how tenuously -
with the assassination and who are now dead are listed according to date of
death.
  This is dealing only with deaths, not with the numerous persons - such as
<ent type = 'person'>Warren Reynolds</ent>, <ent type = 'person'>Roger Craig</ent>, and <ent type = 'person'>Richard Carr</ent> - who claim to have been shot
at or attacked.
  This chapter has been entitled "Convenient Deaths" because these deaths
certainly would have been convenient for anyone not wishing the truth of the
<ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent> assassination to become public.
  The CIA has gone to some lengths to discredit the idea of mysterious
deaths plaguing assassination witnesses.
  A 1967 memo from CIA headquarters to station chiefs advised:</p>

<p> Such vague accusations as that "more than 10 people have died
 mysteriously" can always be explained in some rational way: e.g., the
 individuals concerned have for the most part died of natural causes;
 the [Warren] Commission staff questioned 418 witnesses - the FBI
 interviewed far more people, conducting 25,000 interviews and
 reinterviews - and in such a large group, a certain number of deaths
 are to be expected.</p>

<p>  Testifying before the Church Committee in 1975, CIA technicians told of a
variety of TWEP technology - Terminate With Extreme Prejudice - that cannot
be detected in a postmortem examination.
  One recently declassified CIA document, a letter from an Agency consultant
to a CIA officer, states:</p>

<p> You will recall that I mentioned that the local circumstances under
 which a given means might be used might suggest the technique to be
 used in that case.  I think the gross divisions in presenting this
 subject might be:
 (1) bodies left with no hope of the cause of death being determined by
 the most complete autopsy and chemical examinations
 (2) bodies left in such circumstances as to simulate accidental death
 (3) bodies left in such circumstances as to simulate suicidal death
 (4) bodies left with residue that simulates those caused by natural
 diseases.</p>

<p>  The letter goes on to show that undetected murders do not have to be the
result of sophisticated chemicals.  It states:</p>

<p> There are two techniques which I believe should be mentioned since
 they require no special equipment besides a strong arm and the will to
 do such a job.  These would be either to smother the victim with a
 pillow or to strangle him with a wide piece of cloth such as a bath
 towel.  In such cases, there are no specific anatomic changes to
 indicate the cause of death...</p>

<p>  While it is obvious that the CIA - and hence the mob through operatives who
work for both - has the capability of killing, it is less well known that the
Agency has developed drugs to induce cancer.
  Recall that <ent type = 'person'>Jack <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent></ent> died of sudden lung cancer just as he had been granted
a new trial.
  A 1952 CIA memo reported on the cancer-causing effects of beryllium:
"This is certainly the most toxic inorganic element and it produces a
peculiar fibrotic tumor at the site of local application.  The amount
necessary to produce these tumors is a few micrograms."
  Local law-enforcement officers and coroners are not equipped, either by
training or by inclination, to detect deaths induced by such sophisticated
means.  They look for signs of a struggle, evidence of a break-in, bruises,
or marks on the victim.
  With no evidence to the contrary, many deaths are ruled suicide or accident.
Others are ruled due to natural causes, such as heart attack.
  It is interesting to note how the deaths are grouped.  Many of the
earliest deaths came during the time of the Warren Commission investigation
or just afterwards.
  More deaths took place in the late 1960s as New Orleans District Attorney
<ent type = 'person'>Jim <ent type = 'person'>Garrison</ent></ent> was launching his investigation.  Other suspicious deaths
occurred during the mid-1970s, as the Senate Intelligence Committee was
looking into assassinations by U.S. intelligence agencies.  And finally,
another spate of deaths came around 1977, just as the House Select Committee
on Assassinations was gearing up its investigation.
  These deaths are listed below in chronological order.  An asterisk means
the death is a particularly suspicious one.  They are also grouped according
to which investigation was being conducted at the time.
  The possibility of convenient deaths leads one into a well of paranoia, yet
this long list cannot be summarily dismissed.
  Obviously, many of these deaths - particularly in recent years - can be
ascribed to the passage of time.  But others cannot - especially when viewed
in the context of the assassination inquiries taking place at the time.
  Read for yourself and consider... When does coincidence end and conspiracy
begin?</p>

<p>    List of Deaths</p>

<p>Date  Name  Connection with Case    Cause of Death</p>

<p>11/63  Karyn Kupcinet*   TV host's daughter who was Murdered
   overheard telling of <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent>'s
   death prior to 11/22/63</p>

<p>   The Warren Commission Investigation</p>

<p>12/63  <ent type = 'person'>Jack Zangretti</ent>*   Expressed foreknowledge of <ent type = 'person'>Gunshot</ent> victim
   <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent> shooting <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent></p>

<p>2/64  Eddy Benavides*  Look-alike brother to <ent type = 'person'>Tippit</ent>   <ent type = 'person'>Gunshot</ent> to head
   shooting witness, Domingo
   Benavides</p>

<p>3/64  Betty McDonald*  Former <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent> employee who   Suicide by hanging
   alibied <ent type = 'person'>Warren Reynolds</ent>  in Dallas jail
   shooting suspect</p>

<p>3/64  <ent type = 'person'>Bill Chesher</ent>   Thought to have information  Heart attack
   linking <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent> and <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent></p>

<p>3/64  <ent type = 'person'>Hank Killam</ent>*   Husband of <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent> employee,  <ent type = 'person'>Throat</ent> cut
   knew <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent> acquaintance</p>

<p>4/64  <ent type = 'person'>Bill Hunter</ent>*   Reporter who was in <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent>'s Accidental shooting
   apartment on 11/24/63    by policeman</p>

<p>5/64  <ent type = 'person'>Gary Underhill</ent>*  CIA agent who claimed    <ent type = 'person'>Gunshot</ent> in head,
   Agency was involved  Ruled suicide</p>

<p>5/64  <ent type = 'person'>Hugh Ward</ent>*   Private investigator working   Plane crash in
   with <ent type = 'person'>Guy Banister</ent> and David  Mexico
   <ent type = 'person'>Ferrie</ent></p>

<p>5/64  DeLesseps Morrison*  New Orleans mayor    Passenger in Ward's
      plane</p>

<p>8/64  Teresa Norton* <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent> employee    Fatally shot</p>

<p>6/64  <ent type = 'person'>Guy Banister</ent>*  Ex-FBI agent in New Orleans  Heart attack
   connected to <ent type = 'person'>Ferrie</ent>, CIA,
   <ent type = 'person'>Carlos Marcello</ent> and <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent></p>

<p>9/64  Jim Koethe*  Reporter who was in <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent>'s Blow to neck
   apartment on 11/24/63</p>

<p>9/64  C.D. Jackson   Life Magazine senior vice  Unknown
   president who bought Zapruder
   film and locked it away</p>

<p>10/64  Mary Pinchot Meyer* <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent> mistress whose diary was   Murdered
   taken by CIA chief James
   Angleton after her death</p>

<p>1/65  <ent type = 'person'>Paul Mandal</ent>  Life writer who told of <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent>  <ent type = 'person'>Cancer</ent>
   turning to rear when shot in
   throat</p>

<p>3/65  Tom Howard*  <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent>'s first lawyer, was in  Heart attack
   <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent>'s apartment on 11/24/63</p>

<p>5/65  Maurice Gatlin*  Pilot for <ent type = 'person'>Guy Banister</ent>   Fatal Fall</p>

<p>8/65  Mona B. Saenz* Texas Employment clerk who Hit by Dallas bus
   interviewed <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent></p>

<p>?/65  David Goldstein  Dallasite who helped FBI   Natural causes
   trace <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent>'s pistol</p>

<p>9/65  <ent type = 'person'>Rose Cheramie</ent>* Knew of assassination in   Hit/run victim
   advance, told of riding to
   Dallas with Cubans</p>

<p>11/65  <ent type = 'person'>Dorothy <ent type = 'person'>Kilgallen</ent></ent>*  Columnist who had private  Drug overdose
   interview with <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent>, pledged
   to "break" <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent> case</p>

<p>11/65  Mrs. <ent type = 'person'>Earl Smith</ent>*  Close friend to Dorothy  Unknown
   <ent type = 'person'>Kilgallen</ent>, died two days
   after columnist, may have
   kept <ent type = 'person'>Kilgallen</ent>'s notes</p>

<p>12/65  William Whaley*   Cabdriver who reportedly   Motor Collision
   drove <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent> to Oak Cliff  (the only Dallas
      taxi driver to
      die on duty)</p>

<p>1966  Judge <ent type = 'person'>Joe Brown</ent>  Presided over <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent>'s trial Heart attack</p>

<p>1966  Karen "Little Lynn"  <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent> employee who last talked  <ent type = 'person'>Gunshot</ent> victim
  <ent type = 'person'>Carlin</ent>*  with <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent> before <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent> shooting</p>

<p>1/66  Earline Roberts  <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent>'s landlady    Heart attack</p>

<p>2/66  Albert Bogard* Car salesman who said <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent>   Suicide
   test drove new car</p>

<p>6/66  Capt. <ent type = 'person'>Frank Martin</ent> Dallas police captain who  <ent type = 'person'>Cancer</ent>
   witnessed <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent> slaying,
   told Warren Commission,
   "There's a lot to be said,
   but probably be better if I
   don't say it."</p>

<p>8/66  Lee Bowers, Jr.*   Witnessed men behind picket  Motor accident
   fence on Grassy Knoll</p>

<p>9/66  Marilyn "Delilah"  <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent> dancer    <ent type = 'person'>Shot</ent> by husband
  <ent type = 'person'>Walle</ent>*      after one month
      of marriage</p>

<p>10/66  William Pitzer*   <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent> autopsy photographer   <ent type = 'person'>Gunshot</ent>, ruled
   who described his duty as  suicide
   "horrifying experience"</p>

<p>11/66  <ent type = 'person'>Jimmy Levens</ent>  Fort Worth nightclub owner Natural causes
   who hired <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent> employee</p>

<p>11/66  James Worrell, Jr.* Saw man flee rear of Texas Motor accident
   School Book Depository</p>

<p>1966  Clarence Oliver  D.A. investigator who    Unknown
   worked <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent> case</p>

<p>12/66  Hank Suydam   Life magazine official in  Heart attack
   charge of <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent> stories</p>

<p>   The <ent type = 'person'>Garrison</ent> Inquiry</p>

<p>Date  Name  Connection with Case    Cause of Death</p>

<p>1967  Leonard Pullin Civilian Navy employee who One-car crash
   helped film _Last Two Days_
   about assassination</p>

<p>1/67  <ent type = 'person'>Jack <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent></ent>    <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent>'s slayer    Lung cancer (He
      told family he
      was injected with
      cancer cells.)</p>

<p>2/67  Harold Russell*  Saw escape of <ent type = 'person'>Tippit</ent> killer  Killed by cop in
      bar brawl</p>

<p>2/67  <ent type = 'person'>David <ent type = 'person'>Ferrie</ent></ent>*  Acquaintance of <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent>,  Blow to neck,
   <ent type = 'person'>Garrison</ent> suspect, and    ruled accidental
   employee of <ent type = 'person'>Guy Banister</ent></p>

<p>2/67  Eladio Del Valle*  Anti-<ent type = 'person'>Castro</ent> Cuban associate  <ent type = 'person'>Gunshot</ent> wound,
   of <ent type = 'person'>David <ent type = 'person'>Ferrie</ent></ent> being sought   ax wound to head
   by <ent type = 'person'>Garrison</ent></p>

<p>3/67  Dr. Mary Sherman*  <ent type = 'person'>Ferrie</ent> associate working on  Died in fire
   cancer research    (possibly shot)</p>

<p>1/68  A.D. <ent type = 'person'>Bowie</ent>   Assistant Dallas D.A.    <ent type = 'person'>Cancer</ent>
   prosecuting <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent></p>

<p>4/68  Hiram Ingram   Dallas deputy sheriff, close   <ent type = 'person'>Cancer</ent>
   friend to <ent type = 'person'>Roger Craig</ent></p>

<p>5/68  Dr. <ent type = 'person'>Nicholas Chetta</ent>  New Orleans coroner who ruled  Heart attack
   on death of <ent type = 'person'>Ferrie</ent></p>

<p>8/68  Phillip Geraci*  Friend of Perry Russo, told of Electrocution
   <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent>/Shaw connection</p>

<p>1/69  <ent type = 'person'>Henry Delaune</ent>* Brother-in-law to coroner  Murdered
   Chetta</p>

<p>1/69  E.R. Walthers* Dallas deputy sheriff who  <ent type = 'person'>Shot</ent> by felon
   was involved in Depository
   search, claimed to have found
   .45-cal slug</p>

<p>1969  <ent type = 'person'>Charles Mentesana</ent>  Filmed rifle other than  Heart attack
   Mannlicher-Carcano being taken
   from Depository</p>

<p>4/69  Mary Bledsoe   Neighbor to <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent>, also   Natural causes
   knew <ent type = 'person'>David <ent type = 'person'>Ferrie</ent></ent></p>

<p>4/69  <ent type = 'person'>John Crawford</ent>* Close friend to both <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent> and  Crash of private
   <ent type = 'person'>Wesley Frazier</ent>, who gave ride  plane
   to <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent> on 11/22/63</p>

<p>7/69  Rev. <ent type = 'person'>Clyde Johnson</ent>*  Scheduled to testify about Fatally shot
   <ent type = 'person'>Clay Shaw</ent>/<ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent> connection</p>

<p>1970  <ent type = 'person'>George McGann</ent>* Underworld figure, connected   Murdered
   to <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent> friends; wife, <ent type = 'person'>Beverly</ent>,
   took film in Dealey Plaza</p>

<p>1/70  Darrell W. Garner  Arrested for shooting Warren   Drug overdose
   Reynolds, released after
   alibi from Betty McDonald</p>

<p>8/70  Bill Decker  Dallas sheriff who saw bullet  Natural causes
   hit street in front of <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent></p>

<p>8/70  Abraham Zapruder   Took famous film of <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent>  Natural causes
   assassination</p>

<p>12/70  Salvatore Granello* Mobster linked to <ent type = 'person'>Hoffa</ent>,   Murdered
   Trafficante, and <ent type = 'person'>Castro</ent>
   assassination plots</p>

<p>1971  James Plumeri* Mobster tied to mob-CIA  Murdered
   assassination plots</p>

<p>3/71  Clayton Fowler <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent>'s chief defense attorney  Unknown</p>

<p>4/71  Gen. <ent type = 'person'>Charles Cabell</ent>* CIA deputy director connected  Collapsed and
   to anti-<ent type = 'person'>Castro</ent> Cubans    died after
      physical at Ft.
      Myers</p>

<p>    The Church Committee Investigation</p>

<p>Date  Name  Connection with Case    Cause of Death</p>

<p>1972  Hale Boggs*  House majority leader, member  Disappeared on
   of Warren Commission who began Alaskan plane
   to publicly express doubts   flight
   doubts about findings</p>

<p>5/72  J. <ent type = 'person'>Edgar Hoover</ent>*   FBI director who pushed "Lone  Heart attack (no
   assassin" theory in <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent>  autopsy)
   assassination</p>

<p>9/73  Thomas E. Davis*   Gun runner connected to both   Electrocuted
   <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent> and CIA   trying to steal
      wire</p>

<p>2/74  J.A. Milteer*  Miami right-winger who   Heater explosion
   predicted <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent>'s death and
   capture of scapegoat</p>

<p>1974  <ent type = 'person'>Dave Yaras</ent>*  Close friend to both <ent type = 'person'>Hoffa</ent> Murdered
   and <ent type = 'person'>Jack <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent></ent></p>

<p>7/74  <ent type = 'person'>Earl Warren</ent>  Chief justice who reluctantly  Heart failure
   chaired Warren Commission</p>

<p>8/74  <ent type = 'person'>Clay Shaw</ent>*   Prime suspect in <ent type = 'person'>Garrison</ent>  Possible cancer
   case, reportedly a CIA
   contact with <ent type = 'person'>Ferrie</ent> and E.
   <ent type = 'person'>Howard Hunt</ent></p>

<p>1974  Earle Cabell   Mayor of Dallas on 11/22/63,   Natural causes
   whose brother, Gen. Charles
   Cabell, was fired from CIA by
   <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent></p>

<p>6/75  <ent type = 'person'>Sam Giancana</ent>*  Chicago Mafia boss slated to   Murdered
   tell about CIA-mob death plots
   to Senate Committee</p>

<p>1975  <ent type = 'person'>Clyde Tolson</ent>   J. <ent type = 'person'>Edgar Hoover</ent>'s assistant  Natural causes
   and roommate</p>

<p>7/75  <ent type = 'person'>Allan Sweatt</ent>   Dallas deputy sheriff involved Natural causes
   in investigation</p>

<p>12/75  Gen. <ent type = 'person'>Earl Wheeler Contact</ent> between <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent> and CIA  Unknown</p>

<p>1976  Ralph Paul   <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent>'s business partner  Heart attack
   connected with crime figures</p>

<p>4/76  <ent type = 'person'>James Chaney</ent>   Dallas motorcycle officer  Heart attack
   to <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent>'s right rear who said
   <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent> "struck in the face" with
   bullet</p>

<p>4/76  Dr. <ent type = 'person'>Charles Gregory</ent>  Governor <ent type = 'person'>John Connally</ent>'s   Heart attack
   physician</p>

<p>6/76  <ent type = 'person'>William Harvey</ent>*  CIA coordinator for CIA-mob  Complications of
   assassination plans against  heart surgery
   <ent type = 'person'>Castro</ent></p>

<p>7/76  John Roselli*  Mobster who testified to   Stabbed and
   Senate committee, was to   stuffed in metal
   appear again   drum</p>

<p>   1977 - A Terrible Year for Many</p>

<p>  The year 1977 produced a bumper crop of candidates for listing under
convenient deaths connected with the <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent> assassination - including the deaths
of six top FBI officials all of whom were scheduled to testify before the
House Select Committee on Assassinations.
  Topping this list was former number-three man in the FBI, William C.
<ent type = 'person'>Sullivan</ent>, who had already had a preliminary meeting with the investigators
for the House Committee.  <ent type = 'person'>Sullivan</ent> was shot with a high-powered rifle near
his New Hampshire home by a man who claimed to have mistaken him for a deer.
The man was charged with a misdemeanor - "shooting a human being by
accident" - and released to the custody of his father, a state policeman.
There was no further investigation of <ent type = 'person'>Sullivan</ent>'s death.
  <ent type = 'person'>Louis Nichols</ent> was a special assistant to J. <ent type = 'person'>Edgar Hoover</ent> as well as
Hoover's liaison with the Warren Commission.  Alan H. Belmont also was a
special assistant to Hoover.  James Cadigan was a document expert with access
to many classified assassination documents, while J.M. English headed the FBI
laboratory where <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent>'s rifle and pistol were tested.  <ent type = 'person'>Donald Kaylor</ent> was
the FBI fingerprint expert who examined prints found at the assassination
scene.  None of these six Bureau officials lived to tell what they knew to
the House Committee.
  Other key assassination witnesses, such as <ent type = 'person'>George <ent type = 'person'>DeMohrenschildt</ent></ent> and
former Cuban president <ent type = 'person'><ent type = 'person'>Carlos Prio</ent> <ent type = 'person'>Soccaras</ent></ent>, died within weeks of each other
in 1977, just as they, too, were being sought by the House Committee.
  The ranks of both organized crime and U.S. intelligence agencies were
thinned by deaths beginning in 1975, the time of the Senate Intelligence
Hearings, and 1978, the closing months of the House Committee.
  <ent type = 'person'>Charles Nicoletti</ent>, a mobster connected with the CIA-Mafia assassination
plots, was murdered in Chicago, while <ent type = 'person'>William Pawley</ent>, a former diplomat
connected with both organized crime and CIA figures, reportedly committed
suicide.
  Adding to rumors that "hit teams" may have been at work, a Time magazine
article reported that federal agents had initiated a nationwide investigation
into more than 20 gangland assassinations constituting what agents believed
was an "open underworld challenge to governmental infiltration of Mafia
activities."
  One FBI source was quoted as saying: "Our main concern is that we may be
facing a revival of the old `Murder, Inc.' days."
  A New York News story concerning this official fear of roving
assassination squads even mentions the death of <ent type = 'person'>Sam Giancana</ent>, who was killed
one day before he was scheduled to testify about mob-CIA connections and
while under government protection.
  Prior to the House Committee investigation into the <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent> assassination,
the news media reported the following deaths:</p>

<p>Date  Name  Connection with Case    Cause of Death</p>

<p>1/77  <ent type = 'person'>William Pawley</ent>*  Former Brazilian ambassador  <ent type = 'person'>Gunshot</ent>, ruled
   connected to anti-<ent type = 'person'>Castro</ent>   suicide
   Cubans, crime figures</p>

<p>3/77  George   Close friend to both <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent>  <ent type = 'person'>Gunshot</ent> wound,
  <ent type = 'person'>DeMohrenschildt</ent>*   and <ent type = 'person'>Bouvier</ent> family (<ent type = 'person'>Jackie</ent> ruled suicide
   <ent type = 'person'>Kennedy</ent>'s parents), CIA
   contract agent</p>

<p>3/77  <ent type = 'person'>Carlos Prio</ent>  Former Cuban president,  <ent type = 'person'>Gunshot</ent> wound,
  <ent type = 'person'>Soccaras</ent>*    money man for anti-<ent type = 'person'>Castro</ent>  ruled suicide
   Cubans</p>

<p>3/77  <ent type = 'person'>Paul Raigorodsky</ent>   Business friend of George  Natural causes
   <ent type = 'person'>DeMohrenschildt</ent> and wealthy
   oilmen</p>

<p>5/77  <ent type = 'person'>Lou Staples</ent>*   Dallas radio talk show host  <ent type = 'person'>Gunshot</ent> to head,
   who told friends he would  ruled suicide
   break case</p>

<p>6/77  <ent type = 'person'>Louis Nichols</ent>  Former number-three man in Heart attack
   FBI, worked on <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent>
   investigation</p>

<p>8/77  Alan Belmont   FBI official who testified to  "Long illness"
   Warren Commission</p>

<p>8/77  James Cadigan  FBI document expert who  Fall in home
   testified to Warren Commission</p>

<p>8/77  Joseph C. Ayres*   Chief steward on <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent>'s   Shooting accident
   Air Force One</p>

<p>8/77  Francis G. Powers* U-2 pilot downed over Russia   Helicopter crash
   in 1960    (he reportedly
      ran out of fuel)</p>

<p>9/77  Kenneth O'Donnell  <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent>'s closest aide   Natural causes</p>

<p>10/77  <ent type = 'person'>Donald Kaylor</ent> FBI fingerprint chemist  Heart attack</p>

<p>10/77  J.M. English  Former head of FBI Forensic  Heart attack
   Sciences Laboratory</p>

<p>11/77  William <ent type = 'person'>Sullivan</ent>* Former number-three man in Hunting accident
   FBI, headed Division 5,
   counterespionage and
   domestic intelligence</p>

<p>1978  C.L. "Lummie" Lewis  Dallas deputy sheriff who  Natural causes
   arrested Mafia man <ent type = 'person'>Braden</ent> in
   Dealey Plaza</p>

<p>9/78  Garland Slack  Man who said his target was  Unknown
   fired at by <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent> at rifle
   range</p>

<p>1/79  <ent type = 'person'>Billy Lovelady Depository</ent> employee said to be Complications
   the man in the doorway in AP   from heart attack
   photograph</p>

<p>6/80  Dr. <ent type = 'person'>John Holbrook</ent>  Psychiatrist who testified Heart attack, but
   <ent type = 'person'>Ruby</ent> was not insane  pills, notes found</p>

<p>1/81  Marguerite <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent>  Mother of accused assassin <ent type = 'person'>Cancer</ent></p>

<p>10/81  <ent type = 'person'>Frank Watts</ent>   Chief felony prosecutor for  Natural causes
   Dallas D.A.</p>

<p>1/82  Peter Gregory  Original translator for  Natural causes
   Marina <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent> and Secret
   Service</p>

<p>5/82  Dr. <ent type = 'person'>James Weston</ent>   Pathologist allowed to see Died while
   <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent> autopsy material for   jogging, ruled
   HSCA   natural causes</p>

<p>8/82  Will H. Griffin  FBI agent who reportedly   <ent type = 'person'>Cancer</ent>
   said <ent type = 'person'>Oswald</ent> was "definitely"
   an FBI informant</p>

<p>10/82  W. Marvin Gheesling FBI official who helped  Natural causes
   supervise <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent> investigation</p>

<p>3/84  <ent type = 'person'>Roy Kellerman</ent>  Secret Service agent in charge Unknown
   if <ent type = 'person'>JFK</ent> limousine

--- end
</p></xml>