New theories on JFK assassination
Our nation continues to be mystified concerning what actually happened in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Nov. 22, 1963 in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. The theories are many: everything from lone-gunman-nut Lee Harvey Oswald being solely responsible to a well-orchestrated conspiracy involving elements of the U.S. government, U.S. military, and the mob. Enter one E. Howard Hunt.
Hunt got his start in espionage in the 1940s, working for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) under the legendary Wild Bill Donovan. When the OSS became the CIA, Hunt jumped on board. Hunt was a major player in a 1954 coup in Guatemala ?which ultimately cost 200,000 lives” (Rolling Stone, page 48, April 5, 2007).
Heavily involved in, and much blamed for, the Bay of Pigs disaster, and “relegated” to less exciting roles, Hunt retired from the CIA in 1970. Shortly thereafter, he hired on with the Nixon Administration and joined the “president?s Special Investigations Unit as a kind of dirty tricks consultant.” Considered by some the quintessential cloak-and-dagger spy, Hunt helped mastermind the Watergate break-in of 1972. However, the Watergate break-in was bungled. Hunt served almost three years in prison for his role, and President Nixon ultimately resigned.
For years, Hunt claimed he didn?t know anything about the JFK assassination. However, just before his death, Jan. 23, 2007 at age 88, Hunt spoke with his estranged son, St. John Hunt, and E. Howard revealed to St. John startling evidence concerning the JFK assassination. According to E. Howard Hunt, there were eight major players in the JFK assassination:
? The Successor ? Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, who wanted Kennedy out of the way so he could be president.
? Lynchpin ? Cord Meyer, a CIA operative whose wife, Mary Meyer, was a drug user and friends with LSD guru Timothy Leary. Mary Meyer supposedly had an affair with JFK. She was shot dead in Washington, D.C. in 1964 and her death remains unsolved.
? Middleman ? David Atlee Phillips was in charge of the CIA station in Mexico City when Oswald supposedly visited Mexico City shortly before the JFK assassination.
? The Spook ? William K. Harvey, a longtime CIA agent who used mobsters in efforts to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Harvey purportedly hated JFK for not invading Cuba.
? The Recruiter ? Antonia Veciana, a Cuban-born dissident who thought LBJ would invade Cuba and overthrow Castro, if LBJ became president.
? The Mercenary ? Frank Sturgis was a ?hired gun working as a go-between for the CIA and the mob.? Sturgis was quoted as saying Watergate was part of the JFK cover-up.
? The Hit Man ? David Morales was a CIA heavy who worked for Hunt in the 1954 Guatemala coup. Morales mysteriously died in 1978, before he could testify before the House Select Committee on Assassinations, which was looking into the JFK assassination.
? The French Gunman ? Lucien Sarti was a Corsican drug trafficker who was killed by police in 1972. Little is known about him.
E. Howard Hunt did say that Lee Harvey Oswald might have been a shooter in the JFK assassination, but certainly not a lone gunman. Interestingly, of the infamous “Three Tramps” arrested at Dealey Plaza, Nov. 22, 1963, and questioned about the JFK assassination, the third one, wearing a hat, walking behind the other two, remarkably resembles E. Howard Hunt. Though E. Howard Hunt claimed he was shopping with his wife when JFK was slain. St. John Hunt contends he remembers his father was not around the house that day.
Mike Vinson is a Warren County columnist who can be reached at [email protected].