Episode 179  is the second and last in  a two part series covering Charles I. Spiesel, the zany accountant from New York who testified at the Clay Shaw Trial. This is a classic story of a witness that began with all the potential to sink Clay Shaw.  Professional and articulate on the stand, his testimony for the prosecution was clear and convincing. But it only lasted for a few minutes, as he was destroyed upon cross examination by Irvin Dymond the defense attorney for Clay Shaw.  This story is so bizarre that we won't even try to reveal it in this narrative. You will have to listen to both  episode 178 and 179. Some say that if there was only one prosecution witness who destroyed the case, it would be Charles Spiesel. This is yet another moment  where fact is stranger than fiction in the case of the JFK assassination. Come join us for one of the most interesting story tells related to the Garrison investigation and the Clay Shaw trial. 

Even as early as 1964, rumors and serious concerns over  the lone gunman theory and the evidence that might contravene it,  were becoming a major concern for the government and the commission. Conspiracy theories were contrary to the government's stated narrative from the very beginning. This  real-life story is more fascinating than fiction. No matter whether you are a serious researcher or a casual student, you will enjoy the fact filled narrative and story as  we relive one of the most shocking moments in American History. An event that changed the nation and changed the world forever.

Episode 178 is the first in a two part series covering Charles I. Spiesel, the zany accountant from New York who testified at the Clay Shaw Trial. This is a classic story of a witness that began with all the potential to sink Clay Shaw.  Professional and articulate on the stand, his testimony for the prosecution was clear and convincing. But it only lasted for a few minutes, as he was destroyed upon cross examination by Irvin Dymond the defense attorney for Clay Shaw.  This story is so bizarre that we won't even try to reveal it in this narrative. You will have to listen to the episode. Some say that if there was only one prosecution witness who destroyed the case, it would be Charles Spiesel. Yet another moment where fact is stranger than fiction in the case of the JFK assassination. Come join us for one of the most interesting story tells related to the Garrison investigation and the Clay Shaw trial. 

Even as early as 1964, rumors and serious concerns over  the lone gunman theory and the evidence that might contravene it,  were becoming a major concern for the government and the commission. Conspiracy theories were contrary to the government's stated narrative from the very beginning. This  real-life story is more fascinating than fiction. No matter whether you are a serious researcher or a casual student, you will enjoy the fact filled narrative and story as  we relive one of the most shocking moments in American History. An event that changed the nation and changed the world forever.

Episode 177  is the third  in a mini series covering Dean A. Andrews, Jr. the flamboyant jive talking New Orleans attorney that is so aptly portrayed by John Candy in the movie JFK.  Today's Episode recreates his entire June 28th, 1967  testimony in front of the Orleans Grand Jury.  Testimony that flatly contradicted what he told the Warren Commission.  By this time,  Andrews had already been charged with perjury and gave additional testimony that would result in additional perjury charges this day. 
The story of Dean Andrews begins with him, sick in a hospital bed, having received a phone call  the  day after President Kennedy  was assassinated.  The mysterious caller who identified himself as Clay Bertrand asked Andrews if he would go to Dallas and represent Lee Harvey Oswald in the murder case related to the assassination.  Oswald was murdered the next day making his representation moot. Bertrand never surfaced again. Coincidentally, Andrews had interacted with Oswald in the summer of 1963 after Oswald had come to him for legal help associated with his marine corp discharge status, his own citizenship status and that of his wife Marina. Andrews would relay this strange call to the  FBI and the Secret Service on the Monday following the assassination and the inquiry was swift but Bertrand could not be identified or located. The matter was investigated but  was dropped by the authorities until Jim Garrison and his team ran across the reference to Dean Andrews in the Warren Report as Garrison's investigation of the Kennedy assassination was resurrected during late 1966.  While Dean Andrews was a friend of Garrison's and an assistant D.A. as well in nearby Jefferson parish, Garrison soon became convinced that Clay Bertrand was really Clay Shaw, a prominent local new Orleans businessman.  Despite extensive prodding, Dean Andrews refused to identify Clay Shaw as the Clay Bertrand who called Andrews the day after the assassination.  Andrews was called to testify in 1967 before the Orleans Grand Jury and his refusal to identify Clay Shaw along with his material inconsistency of testimony under oath...when compared to his Warren Commission testimony taken under oath, ultimately rewarded him with 11 counts of perjury. Some people say that he was the lynch pin of the case against Clay Shaw but ironically he ended up as a called witness for the defense. Was he telling the truth when Garrison claims that stated he would be a dead man if he made the connection under oath...or did he make the name up from the very beginning in a quest to chase fame and fortune. Come listen to another gripping set of episodes in this new mini-series covering one of the most fascinating and important characters in the story of the JFK assassination, Jim Garrison's  investigation and the Clay Shaw Trial.


 Even as early as 1964, rumors and serious concerns over  the lone gunman theory and the evidence that might contravene it,  were becoming a major concern for the government and the commission. Conspiracy theories were contrary to the government's stated narrative from the very beginning. This  real-life story is more fascinating than fiction. No matter whether you are a serious researcher or a casual student, you will enjoy the fact filled narrative and story as  we relive one of the most shocking moments in American History. An event that changed the nation and changed the world forever.

Episode 176 is the second  in a mini series covering Dean A. Andrews, Jr. the flamboyant jive talking New Orleans attorney that is so aptly portrayed by John Candy in the movie JFK.  Today's Episode recreates his entire Warren Commission testimony.  Andrews, sick in a hospital bed, received a phone call  the  day after President Kennedy was assassinated.  The mysterious caller who identified himself as Clay Bertrand asked Andrews if he would go to Dallas and represent Lee Harvey Oswald in the murder case related to the assassination.  Oswald was murdered the next day making his representation moot. Bertrand never surfaced again. Coincidentally, Andrews had interacted with Oswald in the summer of 1963 after Oswald had come to him for legal help associated with his marine corp discharge status, his own citizenship status and that of his wife Marina. Andrews would relay this strange call to the  FBI and the Secret Service on the Monday following the assassination and the inquiry was swift but Bertrand could not be identified or located. The matter was investigated but  was dropped by the authorities until Jim Garrison and his team ran across the reference to Dean Andrews in the Warren Report as Garrison's investigation of the Kennedy assassination was resurrected during late 1966.  While Dean Andrews was a friend of Garrison's and an assistant D.A. as well in nearby Jefferson parish, Garrison soon became convinced that Clay Bertrand was really Clay Shaw, a prominent local new Orleans businessman.  Despite extensive prodding, Dean Andrews refused to identify Clay Shaw as the Clay Bertrand who called Andrews the day after the assassination.  Andrews was called to testify in 1967 before the Orleans Grand Jury and his refusal to identify Clay Shaw along with his material inconsistency of testimony under oath...when compared to his Warren Commission testimony taken under oath, ultimately rewarded him with 11 counts of perjury. Some people say that he was the lynch pin of the case against Clay Shaw but ironically he ended up as a called witness for the defense. Was he telling the truth when Garrison claims that stated he would be a dead man if he made the connection under oath...or did he make the name up from the very beginning in a quest to chase fame and fortune. Come listen to another gripping set of episodes in this new mini-series covering one of the most fascinating and important characters in the story of the JFK assassination, Jim Garrison's  investigation and the Clay Shaw Trial.


 Even as early as 1964, rumors and serious concerns over  the lone gunman theory and the evidence that might contravene it,  were becoming a major concern for the government and the commission. Conspiracy theories were contrary to the government's stated narrative from the very beginning. This  real-life story is more fascinating than fiction. No matter whether you are a serious researcher or a casual student, you will enjoy the fact filled narrative and story as  we relive one of the most shocking moments in American History. An event that changed the nation and changed the world forever.

Episode 175 is the first in a mini series covering Dean A. Andrews, Jr. the flamboyant jive talking New Orleans attorney that is so aptly portrayed by John Candy in the movie JFK.   Andrews, sick in a hospital bed, received a phone call  the  day after President Kennedy was assassinated.  The mysterious caller who identified himself as Clay Bertrand asked Andrews if he would go to Dallas and represent Lee Harvey Oswald in the murder case related to the assassination.  Oswald was murdered the next day making his representation moot. Bertrand never surfaced again. Coincidentally, Andrews had interacted with Oswald in the summer of 1963 after Oswald had come to him for legal help associated with his marine corp discharge status, his own citizenship status and that of his wife Marina. Andrews would relay this strange call to the  FBI and the Secret Service on the Monday following the assassination and the inquiry was swift but Bertrand could not be identified or located. The matter was investigated but  was dropped by the authorities until Jim Garrison and his team ran across the reference to Dean Andrews in the Warren Report as Garrison's investigation of the Kennedy assassination was resurrected during late 1966.  While Dean Andrews was a friend of Garrison's and an assistant D.A. as well in nearby Jefferson parish, Garrison soon became convinced that Clay Bertrand was really Clay Shaw, a prominent local new Orleans businessman.  Despite extensive prodding, Dean Andrews refused to identify Clay Shaw as the Clay Bertrand who called Andrews the day after the assassination.  Andrews was called to testify in 1967 before the Orleans Grand Jury and his refusal to identify Clay Shaw along with his material inconsistency of testimony under oath...when compared to his Warren Commission testimony taken under oath, ultimately rewarded him with 11 counts of perjury. Some people say that he was the lynch pin of the case against Clay Shaw but ironically he ended up as a called witness for the defense. Was he telling the truth when Garrison claims that stated he would be a dead man if he made the connection under oath...or did he make the name up from the very beginning in a quest to chase fame and fortune. Come listen to another gripping set of episodes in this new mini-series covering one of the most fascinating and important characters in the story of the JFK assassination, Jim Garrison's  investigation and the Clay Shaw Trial.


 Even as early as 1964, rumors and serious concerns over  the lone gunman theory and the evidence that might contravene it,  were becoming a major concern for the government and the commission. Conspiracy theories were contrary to the government's stated narrative from the very beginning. This  real-life story is more fascinating than fiction. No matter whether you are a serious researcher or a casual student, you will enjoy the fact filled narrative and story as  we relive one of the most shocking moments in American History. An event that changed the nation and changed the world forever.

Episode 174  is the story of the alleged attempted bribe of Al Beauboeuf by the Garrison investigators.  Beauboeuf was a close friend of David Ferrie who lived at Ferrie's apartment for a time and also  accompanied Ferrie on the night of the assassination on the famous trip to the Wonderland Skating Rink in Houston. Garrison was convinced that Ferrie was not telling them the  truth, and that he was part of the assassination plot. Garrison's team also believed that Beauboeuf's relationship with Ferrie was highly likely to have made him privy to critical facts about the conspiracy plot.  So their interest in getting Beauboeuf to  reveal the truth was quite high in the days following Ferrie's death.  They would offer Beauboeuf $3,000 and the prospect of a job with an airline in exchange for his testimony  only to have the offer secretly taped by  Beauboeuf's defense attorney.  The tape was circulated to various law enforcement authorities and Beauboeuf's attorney attempted to sell the tape to the media outlets, but had no success in do so.   Of course,  the tactics deployed by Garrison's team beg  the  core question of whether  they committed a crime that was not prosecuted when they offered Beauboeuf money and the prospects of a job in exchange for his testimony should it "fill in the holes".  It also begged the question of  whether Beaubouf and his attorneys injected their own dirty tricks into this process in order to entangle Garrison and his team. Of course, if  the allegations against Garrison's team were true and it was a bribe, then in a bigger sense, the logical question to follow was whether or not these investigative tactics or approach  were used on more than one witness. Used in attempts to obtain the desired testimony that was necessary to convict  Clay Shaw. Testimony that may have been falsely teased out if the allegations were true, and testimony that would have shown a pattern of  misconduct by Garrison's investigator's when combined with  what was alleged  to have occurred  with other highly publicized witnesses such as Perry Russo. The New Orleans Police Department examined the tape and performed an investigation, and concluded that a bribe had not been offered under the then existing code of conduct. 

Times were different than…it wasn’t a crime to offer financial or other assistance to witnesses….the legal issue is where the line gets drawn….drawn in the times in which it occurred…and whether they crossed over that line…as investigators…will be up to you once you listen to more details.  We remind the audience that whether we believe it was right or wrong ( based on today's rules and today's environment) to offer financial assistance to a witness is a completely different question…  is to ask a completely different  question and one  that was somewhat irrelevant  to a juror in 1967 given the laws in operation at that time.  So we have to be careful about avoiding the tendency to use the wrong historical yardstick when evaluating what Garrison and his team were doing at the time to get at the truth and bring justice...even though such tactics have long been outlawed in today's environment. 

Aside from the legal aspect of the story, the real question is whether Garrison's team did it to get at the real truth…or whether they did it to  simply get at the needed answer. The answer that was necessary to bury Clay Shaw at trial. As a member of the audience and a juror on the case, you get to decide all of that for yourself. 

Even as early as 1964, rumors and serious concerns over  the lone gunman theory and the evidence that might contravene it,  were becoming a major concern for the government and the commission. Conspiracy theories were contrary to the government's stated narrative from the very begi

Episode 173  is the story of the 2nd polygraph test taken by Perry Russo. Jim Garrison and his team, concerned that the results of the first polygraph test administered to Perry Russo would be made public on national television as part of Walter Sheridan's NBC White Paper documentary, scrambled to have a second polygraph administered that would reinforce the veracity and confirm the truth of Perry Russo's statements to be made at trial.  More specifically, that Russo was present at the assassination plot party which took place at David Ferrie's apartment  which was an event that Clay Shaw was present for and participated in...and that a man named Leon Oswald was present and that is one and the same as Lee Harvey Oswald. Oh, and that Clem Bertrand is one and the same as Clay Shaw.  Unfortunately, the test was cut short and it led to a private conversation between Russo and Ed O'Donnell the polygraph operator and a sergeant on the New Orleans police force.  O'Donnell would tell Garrison and members of his staff what Russo had privately relayed to O'Donnell after the polygraph machine was turned off....that Russo could not definitively say that  Clay Shaw had been at the party that night and participated in the assassination  meeting.  Later,  O'Donnell would make the decision to reveal this information publicly going against Garrison as Garrison ignored what O'Donnell had revealed to him about the conversation with Russo.  Several weeks into the Clay Shaw trial, O'Donnell would make the decision to  testify on behalf of the defense, an unusual matriculation of events in the case.  Some critics say that O'Donnell was a foe of Garrison's and that impacted what happened here. Others say it was just one more example of Garrison's disregard for the truth in his quest to bring the case to trial. 

Even as early as 1964, rumors and serious concerns over  the lone gunman theory and the evidence that might contravene it,  were becoming a major concern for the government and the commission. Conspiracy theories were contrary to the government's stated narrative from the very beginning. This  real-life story is more fascinating than fiction. No matter whether you are a serious researcher or a casual student, you will enjoy the fact filled narrative and story as  we relive one of the most shocking moments in American History. An event that changed the nation and changed the world forever.

Episode 172 is a recap by me  of our three part series which featured an interview of the author Joan Mellen on the Taking Aim Radio Program.  Our three part series bonus episodes (wanders, really)   supplements  our ongoing   story of the Garrison investigation in  New Orleans and the related trial of Clay Shaw.  Joan Mellen is the author of a well done  investigative book entitled  A Farewell to Justice. In  a rare appearance to promote her book, Ms. Mellon  participated in a radio interview that was presented by radio station WBAI in Brooklyn on the show Taking Aim. The conversation aired in October 2005, just prior to her book coming out. ..and it is quite revealing. In the three part series, Ms. Mellen engages in an intimate conversation about some of the most important investigative work done around the assassination itself and the Garrison investigation.  Today's episode discussed and recaps the most important aspects of what we heard from Joan and her interviewers. 

Even as early as 1964, rumors and serious concerns over  the lone gunman theory and the evidence that might contravene it,  were becoming a major concern for the government and the commission. Conspiracy theories were contrary to the government's stated narrative from the very beginning. This  real-life story is more fascinating than fiction. No matter whether you are a serious researcher or a casual student, you will enjoy the fact filled narrative and story as  we relive one of the most shocking moments in American History. An event that changed the nation and changed the world forever.

Tags: Joan MellonA Farewell to JusticeRalph ShoenmanMark Lane

Episode 171 is  part 3 (and the final part)  in a  three part series of  bonus episodes (wanders, really)  which  supplement our  story of the Garrison investigation in  New Orleans and the related trial of Clay Shaw.  Joan Mellen is the author of a well done  investigative book entitled  A Farewell to Justice. In  a rare appearance to promote her book, Ms. Mellon  participated in a radio interview that was presented by radio station WBAI in Brooklyn on the show Taking Aim. The conversation aired in October 2005, just prior to her book coming out. ..and it is quite revealing.  Hear Ms. Mellen  in an intimate conversation about some of the most important investigative work done around the assassination itself and the Garrison investigation.  And, as a bonus, the interview was  conducted by Ralph Shoenman and Mya Shone.  Today's episode reveals more detail on why Robert Kennedy so opposed the Garrison investigation. Shone was a documentary filmmaker and Shoenman was  a left wing activist who was involved in  some of the original investigative work on the Kennedy assassination and who  made acquaintance with Mark Lane. Shoenman   had previously gone to  work for Bertrand Russell in 1960, and he was a major force behind Bertrand Russell's  important and highly influential/controversial 1964 article entitled 16 Questions  on the  Assassination. Russell was one of the most  influential philosophers and social activists  of the 20th century and  he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. Russell would later break with Shoenman, citing various allegations of wrongdoing while working at Russell's foundation (and) in an attempt to distance himself from some of Shoenman's  more radical activities. 

Even as early as 1964, rumors and serious concerns over  the lone gunman theory and the evidence that might contravene it,  were becoming a major concern for the government and the commission. Conspiracy theories were contrary to the government's stated narrative from the very beginning. This  real-life story is more fascinating than fiction. No matter whether you are a serious researcher or a casual student, you will enjoy the fact filled narrative and story as  we relive one of the most shocking moments in American History. An event that changed the nation and changed the world forever.

Episode 170 is  part 2 in a  three part series of  bonus episodes which  supplement our  story of the Garrison investigation in  New Orleans and the related trial of Clay Shaw.  Joan Mellen is the author of a well done  investigative book entitled  A Farewell to Justice. In  a rare appearance to promote her book, Ms. Mellen  participated in a radio interview that was presented by radio station WBAI in Brooklyn on the show Taking Aim. The conversation aired in October 2005, just prior to her book coming out. ..and it is quite revealing.  Hear Ms. Mellon  in an intimate conversation about some of the most important investigative work done around the assassination itself and the Garrison investigation.  And, as a bonus, the interview was  conducted by Ralph Shoenman and Mya Shone. Shone was a documentary filmmaker and Shoenman was  a left wing activist who was involved in  some of the original investigative work on the Kennedy assassination and who  made acquaintance with Mark Lane. Shoenman   had previously gone to  work for Bertrand Russell in 1960, and he was a major force behind Bertrand Russell's  important and highly influential/controversial 1964 article entitled 16 Questions  on the  Assassination. Russell was one of the most  influential philosophers and social activists  of the 20th century and  he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. Russell would later break with Shoenman, citing various allegations of wrongdoing while working at Russell's foundation (and) in an attempt to distance himself from some of Shoenman's  more radical activities. 

Even as early as 1964, rumors and serious concerns over  the lone gunman theory and the evidence that might contravene it,  were becoming a major concern for the government and the commission. Conspiracy theories were contrary to the government's stated narrative from the very beginning. This  real-life story is more fascinating than fiction. No matter whether you are a serious researcher or a casual student, you will enjoy the fact filled narrative and story as  we relive one of the most shocking moments in American History. An event that changed the nation and changed the world forever.