Assassinations Books

DPD communications officer Lt. Mike Grammar received a call the night before Oswald's assassination. The caller, whose voice was familiar to Grammar, but he couldn't quite place it, informed Grammar that Oswald's routine was known for the next day and that he would be murdered. Grammar reported this to Chief Curry. The next day, when Ruby assassinated Oswald (Curry took no countermeasures!), it clicked in Grammar's head that the anonymous voice on the phone the previous night belonged to Ruby. Ruby, as witnesses have testified, was a friend of Oswald, so he didn't want to have to kill him.

DPD motorcycle officer, Bobby Hargis, witnessed the rifle sticking out of the sixth floor window of the DSBD as he turned off Main Street onto Houston Street (the procession wasn't even on Elm Street yet where JFK was shot!) and shouted to the Secret Service whom he was traveling alongside that there was a rifle in the building up ahead! What did the Secret Service do? Nothing. They ignored his warnings, staring straight ahead in the chase car! Hargis was shouting at the Secret Service all the way until JFK was shot on Elm Street!

At Parkland Hospital doctors found a small wound in the front of the President's neck, centered below the Adam's apple. Dr. Gene C. Akin talked about the throat wound as an entrance wound resulting from a pistol shot at close range. Dr. Malcolm O. Perry of Parkland said that the wound was only "a few millimeters in diameter" (a millimeter is equal to 4/100ths of an inch). Dr. Perry made a cut of a few millimeters across the throat and into the windpipe in order to insert a tracheotomy tube. But even after the tracheotomy, the wound to the neck was recognizable as a gunshot wound. On June 19, 1992, Dr. Jones, now Chief of Surgery at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, described the President's throat wound as being "compatible with an entrance wound." In his handwritten report of November 22, 1963, the injury was noted as "a small hole in [the] anterior midline of [the] neck thought to be a bullet entrance wound" (WCH 20, page 333). Dr. Peters, "We saw the wound of entry in the throat and noted the large occipital wound" (6H71). Kemp Clark, "Two external wounds, one in the lower third of the anterior neck, the other in the occipital region of the skull, were noted." What does Dr. Boswell, who supervised the autopsy, note on the Face Sheet diagram as to the wound to JFK's throat? Just the tracheotomy, there is no dot identifying the throat wound! Why would Dr. Boswell do this (Dr. Burkley, who completed JFK's Death Certificate and was present at the autopsy, also neglected to note JFK's throat wound!)? Because such a wound would mean JFK was struck in the neck by a projectile coming from the front.

When witnesses who counter the "official JFK assassination conspiracy" go unchallenged by the InJustice Department, I have questions that this book doens't answer. When prints and lifting powder magically disappear from a weapon involved in the murder of a president, I have questions that this book doesn't answer. When Dr. Burkley's Death Certificate CONTRADICTS Dr. Boswell's autopsy report, I have questions that this book doesn't answer. When Dr. Boswell fails to note JFK's bullet wound to the throat, when the Parkland doctors noted it, I have questions that this book doesn't answer! When the FBI themselves contradict (corroborating the medical personnel at Bethesda) Dr. Boswell's after-the-fact notation on the Face Sheet indicating that the lower back wound isn't at the third thoracic, where the location dot places it, but at the base of the neck, I have serious questions that this book doesn't answer. The above few questions illustrate only a few of the inconsistencies that affirm what a fraud the WC was.

LET'S PRETEND FOR JUST A MOMENT OR TWO...........

It's the year 1964, and Lee Harvey Oswald (the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy), instead of being shot and killed by Jack Ruby on November 24, 1963, is sitting in a courtroom, as his murder trial draws to a close.

The lead prosecuting attorney, attempting to convince the jury of Oswald's sole guilt in the murders of both JFK and Dallas policeman J.D. Tippit, is Vincent T. Bugliosi.

Here's a portion of what just might have been part of Vincent's Closing Arguments to that jury in 1964.

Let's listen in (just for fun).......

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Ladies and gentlemen of the jury....the defense lawyers in this case have argued to you that a massive conspiracy took place on Friday, November 22nd, 1963, the day when President John F. Kennedy was brutally cut down by a sniper's bullets in Dallas, Texas.

The defense has placed on the table the totally-unsupportable theory that someone "planted" that bullet (Warren Commission Exhibit #399) on a Parkland Hospital stretcher, as part of a devious plot to frame this man -- Lee Harvey Oswald -- for President Kennedy's murder.

But, folks, think about the "logic" of doing such a thing at the point in time when these defense attorneys are insisting it actually did occur. Let's examine that type of "logic" for a moment......

There is no way on this Earth, ladies and gentlemen, that any "Patsy-Framing" conspirators are going to risk the whole ballgame by wanting to plant that bullet on a hospital stretcher before 2:00 PM on November the 22nd, 1963....a point in time which could very well have been SUICIDE for those same so-called conspirators!

Why could it possibly have been a suicidal act? Because that bullet, after having been found by Parkland employee Darrell Tomlinson and after also having been seen and handled by O.P. Wright, was handed over (by Wright) to Secret Service agent Richard Johnsen at approximately 1:55 PM (CST) on November 22nd.

Which means that if it had been "planted" on or near Governor John Connally's stretcher (as Mr. Oswald's team of defense attorneys is implying), it must have been planted there prior to 1:55 PM on the day of the President's assassination -- which was a time when Governor Connally was still in the operating room at Parkland undergoing life-saving surgery.

Which also has to mean that at such a time, no evil bullet-planting "conspirators" could have possibly had full knowledge of exactly where ALL of the "real" bullets that hit the victims were located.

For, how could these ace plotters have possibly known at 1:55 PM (or thereabouts) that Bullet CE399 would even be a bullet that could be worked into the official record of this murder case?!

Or did this band of wretched plotters and assassination-planning henchmen simply say to themselves the following (in the days leading up to November 22nd)? ----

Oh, what the hell, guys....everything is going to be taken care of by the dutiful and ever-efficient Government cover-up agents later on anyway....so we'll just go ahead and plant this possibly-extra bullet in the hospital and just throw up our collective patsy-creating hands and hope that everything comes out okay in the long run.

Is that what these defense lawyers want you good folks of this jury to swallow -- hook, line, and planted bullet?!!

You can see how silly and utterly preposterous so much of this kind of "evidence-planting" talk really is by simply applying just a small dose of common sense and logic to the allegations being made by these defense attorneys -- attorneys who, it would seem, have never met a conspiracy theory they didn't immediately accept with a broad smile and wide-open arms.

But, it's not that easy, folks. Not by a long shot is it that easy. Picking assorted unsupportable conspiracy theories out of a hat just isn't gonna cut it! And with your verdict of "Guilty" at this trial, ladies and gentlemen, you're going to be telling this Scheme Team of lawyers that it's simply NOT THAT EASY!

Plus, let me add this regarding bullet CE399 -- Why would any so-called "conspirators" even WANT to plant that bullet in Parkland Hospital in the first place? There was ALREADY Oswald-incriminating bullet evidence in the limousine that ties the so-called "Patsy" to the crime!

And not only do we have those two front-seat bullet fragments from Oswald's very own rifle to tie this defendant to the President's murder....but there is also a veritable Mount Everest of additional Oswald-implicating evidence elsewhere in Dealey Plaza as well -- such as those three spent cartridge cases found in the Texas School Book Depository. Cartridge cases which we KNOW came from Lee Oswald's Mannlicher-Carcano bolt-action rifle TO THE EXCLUSION OF EVERY OTHER WEAPON EVER MADE!!

And those three bullet cartridge cases were found directly underneath the sniper's window in the southeast corner on the Book Depository's sixth floor! And that just happens to be the EXACT window from where this defendant -- Lee Harvey Oswald -- was physically seen by an eyewitness aiming a rifle at the President's car!

Other witnesses testified that they saw a man who looked generally like Mr. Oswald in that very same sniper's window just minutes (perhaps even seconds) before the three shots rang out in Dealey Plaza that day.

And there is also that brown paper bag....which was ALSO found in the Sniper's Nest. And it's a paper bag that just happens to have two of Lee Harvey Oswald's prints on it -- a fingerprint, plus what amounts to an extremely-incriminating RIGHT PALMPRINT at the bottom (or closed end) of that bag.

That palmprint is devastating physical evidence of Mr. Oswald guilt -- because it's a print that perfectly aligns with the testimony of witness Buell Wesley Frazier. You remember that nice young man, don't you ladies and gentlemen? He was Oswald's 19-year-old co-worker at the Book Depository who gave Lee Harvey a ride to work on the morning of the assassination, remember?

And remember what Mr. Frazier testified to with regards to a certain brown paper package that Oswald had with him that morning (a bag that the defendant said contained "curtain rods")?

Mr. Frazier said that Oswald carried the bag "cupped" in his right hand, so that the weight of whatever was in that bag would be pressing down against Oswald's right hand.

And, lo and behold, on the sixth floor, in the same sniper's area with the bullet shells and Oswald's other prints, what was found by police? --- Yes indeed....an empty brown paper bag with Lee Oswald's RIGHT PALMPRINT on the closed end of the bag!

Just an innocent coincidence of some kind, ladies and gentlemen? Nonsense! It's as obvious as the nose on Jimmy Durante's face that the empty bag found by police after the assassination is the very same bag that Wesley Frazier saw Oswald carry into the Book Depository Building on November 22nd. How could it BE any more obvious?!

And if anyone thinks for a single second (as the defense has suggested) that the empty paper sack was "created" and then "planted" by the Dallas Police Department (due to the fact that no photograph exists in the official record of the paper bag within the Sniper's Nest) -- they'd better think twice about that absurd allegation.

Because if that bag had been "manufactured" by the police, how on this Earth did the cops manage that perfect "Oswald palmprint" fakery? How did they manage, in fairly short order, to produce a bag that ALSO happened to have Lee Oswald's prints on it? And a certain palmprint that perfectly MATCHES the testimony of how Wesley Frazier said Oswald carried the bag in his right "cupped" hand?

How was such a beautifully-coordinated piece of deception carried out? How COULD it have been? Was Mr. Frazier lying about the "cupped right hand" business? I'm doubting the defense would claim Frazier is a liar....because they used his testimony at this trial to attempt to bolster their own defense case with respect to the "under the armpit" testimony, remember? So, was Mr. Frazier supposedly telling lies one minute; and then telling the truth the next?

But Frazier told you folks during the prosecution's re-direct examination of him that the bag might very well have been protruding out in front of Oswald's body and Mr. Frazier would not have been able to see such a protrusion, due to Oswald having his back to Frazier during the entire lengthy walk toward the back entrance of the Book Depository. Mr. Frazier admitted that to this jury right here in open court!

So, as anyone with just one bad eye can easily see, the police did not, and furthermore (given the evidence in this case), COULD NOT have "faked" and "planted" that brown paper bag in the Book Depository on the day of the President's death. That theory is preposterous on EVERY level -- and everybody knows it!

Getting back to the REAL evidence once again.....

There is also, of course, the biggest piece of evidence of them all -- Oswald's own Mannlicher-Carcano rifle....the very weapon conclusively proven to have been the gun that fired the two bullets which struck President Kennedy....and the very same rifle that was found by the police just fifty-two minutes after the assassination. And WHERE was it found? --- It was found on that very same sixth floor of the Book Depository Building, ladies and gentlemen -- that's where!

And that rifle, which was found behind some boxes near the stairs on the sixth floor, was conclusively proven to be the rifle owned by the defendant in this case -- a Mr. Lee Harvey Oswald.

He didn't use the name "Oswald" to purchase the rifle....no, no. Instead, he used the fake name -- "A. Hidell" -- to order the rifle by mail-order, in March of 1963, from Klein's Sporting Goods....a company in Chicago, Illinois.

But the testimony of handwriting experts at this trial confirm -- without a shred of a doubt, ladies and gentlemen -- that the Klein's order form for rifle number C2766 was filled out in Lee Harvey Oswald's very own handwriting. So we KNOW that it was Oswald himself who ordered the weapon that murdered President Kennedy.

And we also know, without any doubt whatsoever, that that 6.5-millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano rifle was shipped by Klein's to P.O. Box number 2915 in Dallas, Texas, USA. And WHO was the person who used that exact post-office box as a mailing address? You guessed it -- it was Lee Harvey Oswald who used that box to receive mail. That's who.

And we also know, without a doubt, that the serial number that is stamped on Oswald's rifle -- the number "C2766" -- was determined by the Warren Commission to be a unique serial number....that is to say, it was unique to this one particular rifle that was shipped to Lee Oswald in March 1963. In other words, there were not two separate weapons that possessed this same C2766 serial number, as the defense has suggested at this trial.

Therefore -- as we now get back to talking about the ridiculous allegations of evidence-planting in this case -- why would any conspirators want to risk planting additional, possibly-needless bullets in the hospital when there's so much other stuff elsewhere that shows Oswald to be a guilty assassin?

Or would the defense like to now purport that the two large bullet fragments found in the front seat of JFK's limousine were ALSO "planted" there by these unknown/unseen/unidentified "evidence manipulators"? Or that those shells found up on the sixth floor were also "planted"? And was Lee's rifle ALSO "planted" on that same sixth floor too?

And were the defendant's fingerprints also "planted" on those boxes that JUST HAPPENED to be boxes that were found deep within the Sniper's Nest on November 22nd?

And I'm not talking about just the outer Sniper's-Nest boxes that served to shield the assassin from view. No. I'm talking about Lee Harvey Oswald's fingerprint and palmprints being found on two boxes that were INSIDE that Sniper's Perch -- with Lee's palmprint being discovered on the box that the killer almost certainly used as a chair, to sit on, as he waited for his Presidential prey to round the corner of Elm and Houston Streets on that fateful Friday afternoon in 1963.

And there were two of Oswald's prints located on one of the boxes that almost certainly was positioned by the gunman to serve as a potential "rifle rest" as he aimed his weapon toward the southwest, looking toward the Triple Underpass in Dealey Plaza.

The positioning of those boxes in that window, ladies and gentlemen, also tends to answer another of the conspiracy theorists' favorite questions -- the question of why Oswald didn't take the "best shot", per the theorists, while the President's car was on Houston Street.

In addition to the fact that by waiting until both JFK's car and the Secret Service follow-up vehicle had turned the corner onto Elm Street (thereby making sure that the majority of the "firepower" in the Plaza, possessed by the Secret Service agents, all had their BACKS to the assassin) -- there's also that pre-arranging of book cartons in the sniper's window.

The cartons were placed in the window in such a way that we can pretty much KNOW that the killer (Mr. Oswald) had every intention from the GET-GO of only firing shots at the President AFTER the limousine had turned onto Elm Street.

And I think it's fairly logical to assume that those book cartons were PRE-positioned in such a "Rifle Will Always Point West" fashion prior to the motorcade ever coming into Oswald's line of sight. For, Oswald surely didn't want to have to deal with arranging his rifle rest AFTER the President's car had already come into view, when seconds were precious to him. Did he? Of course not, ladies and gentlemen. That's a silly notion on its face.

So, was ALL of this other stuff I've been talking about "planted" by some group of tireless, unidentified conspirators too (as the defense seems to believe)? Or, perhaps as an alternative theory, the defense thinks that it was merely a miraculous "coincidence" that Lee Harvey Oswald's relatively-FRESH fingerprints, in the course of his everyday Book Depository duties, just HAPPENED to show up on the VERY BOXES that certainly must have been utilized by the killer of President Kennedy?! His FRESH prints remember!

Or maybe the defense should go one rung higher on the "planting" ladder and contend that Oswald's prints were planted on the boxes in the Sniper's Nest too.

In addition -- Does the defense also want to claim that all of the evidence showing Oswald to be guilty of killing Officer Tippit was somehow "planted" as well? Including the more than ONE DOZEN WITNESSES who identified Lee Oswald as either the one lone murderer of J.D. Tippit, or who saw Oswald running away from the scene of that crime, gun in hand?!

Just exactly how far off the deep end of this "Evidence-Planting" pool do these defense lawyers think they can lead you folks here on the jury?! How far??!! The notion that all of this Oswald-incriminating evidence was magically "planted" there by evil conspirators is utter nonsense! And it always has been nonsense!

The defense uses that convenient word "planted" only because there is nothing else TO argue to the members of this jury! They have no other choice BUT to argue the evidence was "planted", "faked", "manipulated", or otherwise "tampered with" in some fashion. Because, let's face facts, if all of this stuff WASN'T planted or monkeyed-around with -- then Lee Harvey Oswald is as guilty as Hitler....and even these defense lawyers must surely realize that basic of all facts.

The defense allegations of evidence-planting and police misconduct and of how everybody under the sun covered-up the truth of the Kennedy assassination are classic signs of a very weak, anemic case on the part of Oswald's defense Scheme Team of attorneys!

It's merely a smokescreen that's being utilized by this "Anybody But Oswald" defense team in an attempt to confuse this jury, and is an attempt to muddy the nature of the true evidence in this case. And it's simply nonsense of the first order!

For, surely you realize, ladies and gentlemen, that if that team of brilliant minds over there at that defense counsel table had even ONE piece of solid, physical evidence to back up their claims of a multi-gun conspiracy in this case, everyone here in this courtroom would have seen it! Can there be any DOUBT of that fact, ladies and gentlemen?!!

But the defense has produced nothing in the way of ballistics evidence in this case to back up the notion that any guns other than Oswald's guns were being fired at anyone in Dealey Plaza or on Tenth Street in Oak Cliff (where Police Officer J.D. Tippit was killed) on November the 22nd, 1963.

And the defense has failed (miserably) in their attempts to provide, in general, any substantial physical evidence whatsoever in this case to show that other killers were involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, or in the savage second murder so obviously committed by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22nd -- that being the slaying of Dallas Police Patrolman J.D. Tippit.

As you men and women of the jury begin to deliberate and to consider the evidence presented at this trial, please ask yourself this one very important question --- Has the defense come even remotely close to PROVING that ANY of the evidence presented by the prosecution in this case -- evidence which unquestionably shows Lee Harvey Oswald to be a double-murderer -- has been faked in any way whatsoever?!

The undeniable answer to the above inquiry, ladies and gentlemen, is a resounding and reverberating "No". No -- they have not! There has not been one speck of proof presented at this trial to back up the defense's allegations of evidence-tampering surrounding John F. Kennedy's murder!

The bullet evidence in this case leads in only one single direction -- and it's not toward multiple shooters firing from a number of directions in Dealey Plaza. It leads, instead, to one man's Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, #C2766, which just happened to be found in the very same building where the gun's owner was located when John F. Kennedy was being shot and killed one Friday afternoon in late nineteen sixty-three!!

And if there HAD been a multi-gun conspiracy afoot on that autumn day in '63 -- ask yourself this additional logical question, ladies and gentlemen --- WHERE ARE THE OTHER BULLETS?? WHERE ARE ALL OF THOSE "OTHER" BULLETS FROM ALL OF THOSE "OTHER" GUNS THAT WERE SUPPOSEDLY USED TO SHOOT PRESIDENT KENNEDY?? WHERE???

The answer is -- None exist. No other bullets, fragments, or cartridge cases exist except those that either conclusively came from Lee Harvey Oswald's Carcano rifle, or were consistent with having come from that very rifle! Why is this? And HOW can this be if several different shooters took aim at JFK's body on November 22nd??! Were all of these "other" killers aiming at the sky?! Or at each other, instead of the intended target of John F. Kennedy?! It makes no sense, ladies and gentlemen!

But what DOES make the most sense is this: Lee Harvey Oswald, by himself, with his own gun, murdered President Kennedy. Oswald then slipped out of the Book Depository Building after being detained briefly by police officer Marrion Baker on the 2nd Floor. Oswald then proceeded to kill a policeman in Oak Cliff while in desperate flight from the murder he had just committed less than one hour earlier in Dealey Plaza!

The evidence isn't lying to you, ladies and gentlemen. It's the rabid conspiracy theorists like these unscrupulous defense attorneys who have been spoon-feeding you lies, half-truths, and distortions ever since these two murders were committed by Lee Oswald in 1963.

But regardless of what Mr. Conspiracy over there at the defense table wants you to believe -- the evidence surrounding this case is rock-solid. And that evidence is telling any reasonable person that the man sitting over there across the room from you -- Lee Harvey Oswald -- is guilty as sin of murdering two human beings in the fall of 1963!

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury......

John Fitzgerald Kennedy....only 46 years of age when he was killed....born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29th in the year 1917....the 35th President of these United States....

And:

J.D. Tippit....39-year-old police officer....born in Texas on September 18th, 1924....an 11-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department when his life was so abruptly ended via four gunshot wounds on November 22nd, 1963....

Those two men are not with us here in this courtroom today -- BUT FROM THEIR GRAVES....THEY CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE!

And justice can only be served by your coming back into this courtroom with a verdict of guilty.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. *

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* = Footnotes/Disclaimers -- The above is a David Von Pein-authored summation, presented in a Vince-like manner; Mr. Bugliosi's actual verbiage to an actual jury may vary.

Shake twice before opening.

Enlarged to show product texture.

May contain peanuts (or may contain too much common sense for some conspiracists to fully grasp). ;)

David Von Pein
April 2006
October 2006

This purports to be a firsthand account by a participant in the JFK assassination. If you like your conspiracy theory served up with a heaping helping of unverifiable detail, and a little sex & violence, you may find this book an interesting read. Be forewarned though that even a person with only passing knowledge of assassination trivia (like me) will spot factual errors, simple stuff like getting Oswald's alias wrong, throughout the book. A prime example: Morrow claims the hit squad was checking out Dealey Plaza shooting sites two weekends before the President's visit to Dallas; problem is, the downtown parade route wasn't part of the original plan --- it was adopted at the last minute after JFK insisted on a downtown appearance --- so how could the assassins have known he would come by there? Must have been psychic. For that matter, Oswald's employment at the school book depository wasn't part of some master plan --- he got a heads-up from a friend of a friend that there was a job opening there. This is historical fact, as opposed to the fantasy which "Betrayal" seems based upon. I recommend reading Sneed's "Silence No More" as a reality-based counterpoise to some of the wilder claims in this odd little book.

very good book. gives firsthand account of events leading to assassination and why. no wonder its out of print. as for the previous review, it stated in the book that there were some very fortiutous events that helped out and also some things that didnt, such as the printing of false cuban money, that led up to the assassination. there are some references in the back to the whereabouts of the participants afterwards, if one was given to following those leads.

I wasn't sure anything could surprass some of the crud written by David Belin and others in the Warren Commission cover up, but Posner did it. He's ignored facts, stretched or fabricated others, and was really nothing but a propaganda tool for the government and it's totally discredited "lone assasin" hokum. Don't waste your money on this drivel.

Gerald Posner's 1993 best seller "Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald And The Assassination Of JFK" is an excellent piece of work....and is a book that arrives at the truth with respect to President Kennedy's death in 1963.

Like Mr. Posner, I firmly believe that Oswald, by himself, was responsible for the murders of JFK and policeman J.D. Tippit. And while re-reading this publication recently, I came across many outstanding hunks of fascinating text, including a good collection of direct quotes from various individuals that were placed into this volume by author Posner in his efforts to provide the reader with a complete picture of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who was charged with killing America's 35th President in Dallas.

I've listed some of what I think are this book's most intriguing passages and quotes below, which give a good general indication as to the type of person Lee Oswald truly was (i.e., a strange, disconnected, secretive, violent, and abusive young man who embraced Communism and hated the American society he was living in).

In other words -- Lee Harvey Oswald was the exact type of individual who might just have had an urge to take his mail-order rifle with him to work one day (a day when the President's motorcade was scheduled to pass right in front of the building he worked in) and fire a few shots at JFK from a secluded sixth-story perch.

The evidence in the John F. Kennedy murder case, in fact, tells the world that Mr. Oswald did that very thing on Friday, November 22, 1963.

"Case Closed" Excerpts......

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Lillian Murret (LHO's aunt; sister of Lee's mother, Marguerite Oswald) said:

"She {Marguerite} told me that she had trained Lee to stay in the house, to stay close to home when she wasn't there. .... He just got in the habit of staying alone like that." -- Page 9 of "Case Closed"

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"Otis Carlton, a neighbor in Benbrook {Texas}, was in the Oswalds' living room one evening when {eight-year-old} Lee , gripping a butcher knife, ran through chasing {his half-brother} John Pic. Lee hurled the knife at Pic, in front of a startled Carlton, but it missed and struck the wall." -- Page 10

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Dr. Renatus Hartogs (a psychiatrist who once evaluated Lee Oswald) said:

"He {Lee} came to us on a charge of truancy from school, and yet when I examined him, I found him to have definite traits of dangerousness. In other words, this child had a potential for explosive, aggressive, assaultive acting out, which was rather unusual to find in a child who was sent to the Youth House on such a mild charge as truancy from school." -- Page 12

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Julian Evans (who knew Oswald when Lee was a youth) said:

"Nobody could figure him {Lee} out. .... He didn't want you to get too close to him. .... I thought he was a psycho; I really did." -- Page 15

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William E. Wulf (a schoolmate of Oswald's) said:

"His {Lee's} beliefs seemed to be warped but strong. .... He seemed to me a boy that was looking for something to belong to. .... He impressed me as a boy who could get violent over Communism." -- Page 16

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"Oswald bristled that Ike {President Dwight Eisenhower} "was exploiting the working people" and that if he had the opportunity, he would like to kill Eisenhower." -- Page 17

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"He {Lee} seemed to hit her {Lee's wife Marina} harder and with greater anger than ever before. .... Oswald flew into a rage over Marina's inability to cook a Southern dish, red beans and rice, which he demanded for dinner. The fight ended in their bedroom, with Oswald choking her and threatening {her}." -- Page 101

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"Oswald increasingly spent time locked in his small study. There, unknown to Marina, he compiled a blue looseleaf folder, an operations manual for an action he was planning against {Retired General Edwin} Walker. It was filled with photographs of the general's house and a safe place to stash a rifle, as well as maps of a carefully-designed escape route." -- Page 104

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On Pages 105 and 106:

"On Sunday afternoon, March 31 {1963}, Marina was in the small fenced-in backyard {of the Oswalds' residence on Neely Street in Dallas} hanging up diapers when Lee asked her to take a picture. .... He returned to the apartment and in a few minutes emerged dressed all in black, a revolver tucked into the waist of his pants, a rifle held in one hand, and a camera and some newspapers in the other hand. Marina broke into laughter."

Marina said:

"I asked him then why he had dressed himself up like that. .... I thought he had gone crazy, and he said he wanted to send that to a newspaper. .... It was quite embarrassing the way he was dressed."

Marina also told Mr. Posner the following:

"I was very nervous that day when I took the pictures. I can't remember how many I took, but I know I took them and that is what is important. It would be easier if I said I never took them, but that is not the truth."

(So much for the "Faked Backyard Photos", huh?)

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"Linnie Mae Randle, Buell Frazier's sister, was at her kitchen sink when she glanced out the window at 7:15 Friday morning, November 22. She saw Oswald walk across the street toward her house, carrying a long package parallel to his body." -- Page 223

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"The three empty shells {found beneath the sniper's window in the Texas School Book Depository after the assassination}...were fired from Oswald's rifle, to the exclusion of any other gun." -- Page 269

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"Ten minutes after the shells were found, Deputy Sheriff Eugene Boone and Deputy Constable Seymour Weitzman were near the northwest corner of the sixth floor when they spotted {Oswald's Mannlicher-Carcano bolt-action} rifle, hidden between boxes." -- Pages 269-270

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Less than an hour after JFK was shot.....

"As {Dallas Police Officer J.D.} Tippit reached the front left tire {of his patrol car}, Oswald whipped out his revolver and began shooting. Tippit was killed instantly. Oswald then began running back toward Patton Avenue, emptying shells from the revolver along the way." -- Page 272

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"After the theater scuffle, in which Oswald unsuccessfully tried to shoot another policeman, he {Lee Oswald} was arrested." -- Page 280

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"There is no credible evidence that Oswald knew Guy Banister or had any association with David Ferrie during the critical months preceding the assassination. Marina cannot visualize him working with an accomplice.

{Quoting Marina:} "I am not a psychiatrist...but living with a person for a few years you at least have some kind of intuition about what he might do or might not. He was not a trustworthy and open person. So, personally, I seriously doubt that he will confide in someone." -- Pages 147-148*


* = NOTES: The above comments made by Marina Oswald (appearing on pages 147 and 148 of "Case Closed") came directly from her HSCA testimony in the late 1970s. Many of the other direct quotes I have mentioned within this review can also be cross-referenced in the official Government records of the JFK murder investigation, mainly via the Warren Commission witness transcripts. All page numbers shown above refer to the paperback edition of "Case Closed", published in 1994 by Anchor Books.

I would advise readers not to believe the hype about this book. There are severe factual errors contained in this volume (such as incorrect birth dates for Darlan's parents) and much of the research is based upon the discredited work of Jules Blancqchot of the Ecole du Historisme. The author also overlooks Darlan's blatant racism, including the brutal repression of the Maldives Rebellion.

This book is highly recommended to those who want to know more about Darlan than just his murder in Algiers in 1942. His career is well described, specially when trying to pact a joint effort with the British to control the Mediterranean and prevent Mussolini's Italy of becoming a menace, as well as matching Hitler naval rearmament. Melton offers great insight on Darlan's efforts to maintain the French empire together while the Germans occupied most of France. His duel with Laval and his loyalty to Pétain are widely described, as well as his dilemma of trying to get American support without offering the Germans an excuse to occupy all France and collaborate with the Germans without getting France back into the war on the German side. The climax of this book takes place when the American and British forces invade North Africa, when Darlan was forced to make his mind up, choosing the American (not the British, who supported De Gaulle) side instead of following Pétain's orders to defend North Africa. A must read!

...

Yes, Mudd may have been a slave owner, but that night of the assassination, he was purley doing his job! I am a Mudd...I believe he was completely innocent. Maybe not of slave owning, but of the helping of teh assassination.

This is pure propaganda written by the husband of S. A. Mud's grandaughter. Mudd, a slave owning, beating,and shooting Confederate mail agent is portrayed as an honost Union man. A man who had met J. W. Booth 3 times before and plotted with him is said to be an innocent bystander. This is pure lies.

At Parkland Hospital doctors found a small wound in the front of the President's neck, centered below the Adam's apple. Dr. Gene C. Akin talked about the throat wound as an entrance wound resulting from a pistol shot at close range. Dr. Malcolm O. Perry of Parkland said that the wound was only "a few millimeters in diameter" (a millimeter is equal to 4/100ths of an inch). Dr. Perry made a cut of a few millimeters across the throat and into the windpipe in order to insert a tracheotomy tube. But even after the tracheotomy, the wound to the neck was recognizable as a gunshot wound. On June 19, 1992, Dr. Jones, now Chief of Surgery at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, described the President's throat wound as being "compatible with an entrance wound." In his handwritten report of November 22, 1963, the injury was noted as "a small hole in [the] anterior midline of [the] neck thought to be a bullet entrance wound" (WCH 20, page 333). Dr. Peters, "We saw the wound of entry in the throat and noted the large occipital wound" (6H71). Kemp Clark, "Two external wounds, one in the lower third of the anterior neck, the other in the occipital region of the skull, were noted." What does Dr. Boswell, who supervised the autopsy, note on the Face Sheet diagram as to the wound to JFK's throat? Just the tracheotomy, there is no dot identifying the throat wound! Why would Dr. Boswell do this (Dr. Burkley, who completed JFK's Death Certificate and was present at the autopsy, also neglected to note JFK's throat wound!)? Because such a wound would mean JFK was struck in the neck by a projectile coming from the front, thereby throwing the "Oswald was the lone gunman" hypothesis into the dustbin.

President John Kennedy was murdered in 1963 by an assassin's bullets, and Texas Governor John Connally was also badly wounded in this attack on the President. In my opinion, one man was responsible for those tragic events in Dallas, Texas. And that one man was Lee Harvey Oswald, who fired three shots at the President's motorcade from the Texas School Book Depository on Elm Street, killing the President and injuring the Governor of Texas.

The controversial "Single-Bullet Theory" (SBT) has been debated by historians, researchers, and critics ever since the release of the official Warren Commission Report in September of 1964.

But when one evaluates the probabilities of any OTHER explanation being the correct version of events surrounding the simultaneous wounding of both JFK and Governor Connally (especially when weighed against the strong evidence favoring the "SBT" version of the event), the Single-Bullet Theory's "likelihood" level rises considerably.

The Abraham Zapruder film of JFK's assassination has aided researchers the world over in attempting to re-construct the murder of the President and the wounding of Governor Connally. And there are many indications within that amateur movie that show the SBT to be an accurate scenario.

One such controversial "indication" of the initial bullet strike to Connally's body is the so-called "lapel flip", when the Governor's suit jacket bulges or "flips" at Zapruder Frame #224.

However, I haven't totally abandoned the idea (purported by some conspiracy theorists and possibly some lone-assassin believers as well) of "the wind" causing the lapel flip/bulge. BUT, I will say, if it WAS "the wind", it sure was an amazing coincidence that that gust of wind moved that lapel at the EXACT same 1/18th of a second when a bullet was probably going through the same general area of Governor Connally's body. Almost TOO much of a "coincidence" to be believed.

However, to be fair-minded on this topic -- it is true, I suppose, that CTers could lash back at the above statement of mine with -- "What the heck are you talkin' about! The lapel flip is the ONLY thing you LNers are relying on to indicate a definitive 'SBT' bullet strike at Z224! So without your 'flip', you've got nada!"

OK...fair enough argument. BUT, just AFTER the lapel flip (in the frames immediately following Z224) there are several things that occur to Gov. Connally that indicate a bullet had just passed through him -- e.g., Connally's "open-mouthed grimace" at precisely Z225. And JFK's mouth is "open" at this exact moment as well, which is BEFORE the President has distinctly moved his arms upward to his throat area.*

* = And, btw, although it can NEVER be "proven", due to that darn Stemmons Freeway road sign being in the way, it is quite possible that Z225 might very well be the VERY FIRST moment in time when JFK's mouth opened too....which, if it could be PROVEN (which it can never be, unfortunately), would be an absolutely-overwhelming indication that a single bullet was piercing both men at the exact same time. For, I ask: What would be the odds of having BOTH President Kennedy and John Connally having their mouths closed at Z224, but then, at Z225, opening their mouths in that exact same frame? If that road sign could be removed from the Z-Film, we'd know a great deal more, via the visual medium of Mr. Zapruder's film of the event.

Other post-Z224 "reactions" by Connally include a downward movement of his right shoulder, and the biggie for me -- that "Hat Flip", where his cowboy hat goes flying upward in a very quick space of a few Z-Film frames (and remember, it was the RIGHT hand flying upwards there, and it was the RIGHT wrist which was hit by a bullet that day).

However, the Zapruder Film (as good a piece of SBT-revealing evidence as it is) is really totally unneeded to prove the viability of the SBT. Because even without the existence of Mr. Zapruder's 26-second slice of tragic history in the making, there's so much OTHER evidence that tells a reasonable person with common sense that the Single-Bullet Theory is practically the ONLY way the shooting could have occurred back in '63.

Such evidence as:

1.) The Official JFK Autopsy Report (which was signed by all three autopsy doctors who attended President Kennedy's autopsy at Bethesda), which states without reservation that the bullet that entered JFK's upper back "made its exit through the anterior surface of the neck".

2.) The seated positions in the car of the two shooting victims, one right in front of the other (with JBC just a little lower and a little left of JFK, consistent with SBT-dom).

3.) The physical locations of the two victims' wounds, which are definitely consistent with one bullet having travelled through both JFK and JBC.

4.) The oblong-shaped entry wound on Governor Connally's back, perfectly consistent with the SBT....because this wound certainly indicates that the bullet which entered JBC's back hit something else prior to striking the Governor's back. And the only physical "something" that was between John Connally and the rifle which fired that bullet was the person of John F. Kennedy.

5.) "Stretcher Bullet CE399" being found IN THE HOSPITAL where the victims were taken.

6.) CE399 being scientifically linked to Lee Oswald's rifle and to Connally's wrist fragments. (With a good deal of probability, that bullet traversed John Connally's body that day in Dallas.)

7.) The incredibly-important fact of NO OTHER BULLETS being found anywhere that can be "connected" with these "SBT"-like wounds on the two victims (not a bullet in Connally and not a single whole bullet in Kennedy's back or neck either). This little item here is a KEY to proving the validity of the SBT, and the CTers need to go out on a very shaky limb to get around this not-so-insignificant "No Bullets In Kennedy" item; they'll need either divine intervention to further the conspiracy "plot", which would include BOTH bullets that went into JFK just vanishing ON THEIR OWN (somehow); or the conspiracists need an after-the-fact cover-up, which has plotters digging TWO whole bullets out of JFK's body without a single non-conspirator getting wise. (Not to mention the silliness in the first place of having to purport that TWO bullets just STOPPED DEAD in the soft flesh of the President, both failing to exit the body. That's nutty unto itself.)

8.) No back-seat limo damage that would indicate a bullet struck those seats. And no bullets there either (save very small fragments, plus the two larger fragments in the front seat, which perfectly conform to the Lone-Assassin head-shot scenario).

And the Zapruder Film isn't required to prove the existence of any of the above evidence. Therefore, sans the Z-Film, the SBT is still rock-solid.

Getting back to the lapel flip specifically for a moment more ---

The following motion clip covers Zapruder Frames 222 and 223. Via this excellent-quality Z-Film clip, it does seem that the jacket lapel of Mr. Connally might very well have been moving around even prior to Z224, thus casting some doubt on the idea that the "flip" at Z224 was being caused exclusively by a bullet........

http://216.122.129.112/dc/user_files/4107.gif

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In the final analysis ..... After all the chips have fallen (and considering all of the evidence favoring the SBT, while being forced via common sense and logical thinking to reject the incredible amount of hocus-pocus and conspiratorial hijinks that would have been required in order for the SBT to not be true) -- the Single-Bullet Theory, in my opinion, is by far the most-likely-to-be-correct version to explain the wounding of President Kennedy and Governor Connally on November 22nd, 1963.

While at a yard sale I ran across a copy of the Warren Commission Report for a dollar. After I read it I realized that Jay was right. There is little doubt that LHO was a patsy. At age 10 I got to work the action of a 6.5 Carcano and no way was that the only rifle fired at Dealy plaza. And since the additional bullet found in 1974 effectively removes any real doubt about the truth. Furthermore a brief glance at the character of Arlen Specter should totaly discount his single bullet story.

This guy shows his bias all the way through this apology for the warren commission crap. Complain to your local library if it harbors this nonsense.

The first edition of this book came out in 1973. I am reviewing the sixteenth revised edition. Sixteen editions and virtually no reviews by the JFK Research Community. The sensational conclusions in this book, if generally accepted, would lead to a radical recasting of modern history.

The book: "Is President John F. Kennedy Alive ... And Well" by Bernard M. Bane. Published by the BMB Publishing Company, Boston MA. 16th Edition, 1997. By the author of "The Bane in Kennedy's Existence".

The book is self-published. Too radical, I suppose for most publishing companies. One would think that Mr. Bane, after 16 editions, might be able to produce a more professional
publication. This edition is photocopied on legal size paper, which is then bent over as a group and crudely stapled to a home-made cover. The book will not even stand on its own
on a book shelf. The binding on my copy fell apart within moments. Let us hope the 17th edition will be an improvement.

According to Mr. Bane, he represents the "third school" regarding the JFK Assassination. The first school subscribes to the single assassin theory, as represented by the Warren Commission and Gerald Posner. The second school subscribes to the multiple
assassin/conspiracy hypothesis. Mr. Bane's third school subscribes to the view that the assassination attempt in Dallas was completely faked, with the full knowledge of JFK, who is just waiting for the right moment to re-surface. President Kennedy was "duped and deposed" from power but rather than being killed was allowed to take part in a fake assassination which was tantamount to resignation. Mr. Bane advances a rather sophisticated societal/political analysis which is rather difficult to explain briefly. He posits societal controllers or social engineers with a hidden agenda who program the population via conduits. However, Mr. Bane is firm in his belief that "the core power struggle pertaining
to President Kennedy's assassination-hoax revolves around me." He further states:

"Above and beyond my proposition that the reported assassination of President Kennedy was a hoax I am offering an answer to the programming of the populace that was enabled through this bogus assassination. In a word, this answer is by way of de-programming the populace." One more quote: "The hidden agenda is sponsored by the 'network' that vyes with the Constitution as the source of the authority for the powers that be. The network is hierarchical in structure with its chain of command represented by conduits."

Theoretical considerations aside does Mr.Bane present any actual evidence to support his views?

Mr. Bane theorizes that JFK was behind a planned "assassination attempt" which he would survive, perhaps wounded, and which would naturally strengthen his political position. But instead he was deposed, and the conspirators announced that he was killed. His present whereabouts are apparently unknown.

Mr. Bane, of course, agrees with many that the Zapruder film is faked, along with the autopsy photos and X-rays.

Mr. Bane, a "radical lecturer in the field of psychology and sex" and the author of "The Phenomena of Mind", was involved in organizing a series of dances or mixers in the late fifties and early sixties in the Boston area. At one he paid a young coed $5 to perform. Her name: Joan Baez. All was going well until his license to operated dances was arbitrarily revoked, the beginning of the conspiracy against him. On Oct. 9, 1063 he made two phone
calls to the Attorney General, Robert Kennedy, after which he was arrested and committed to a mental institution for observation. "While confined I was 'treated' with a shot of LSD which induced severe hallucinations and disorientations that lingered for months Later, I was told by a fellow inmante (who I believe was an FBI plant) that it was President Kennedy who was responsible for my getting put away and that he was going to be assassinated as a birthday present to me. My birthday falls on November 23." A striking coincidence. Mr. Bane was released on Nov.15. He later filed suit for false confinement, linking his case to the Kennedy assassination-hoax. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court where it was denied review. The documents of his suit are in his first book, which unfortunately I have not seen. According to Mr. Bane he lost his case "on the basis of the diagnosis of me being a 'paranoid schizophrenic'".

After presenting this compelling evidence Mr. Bane returns to his political analysis. "It is this author's contention that the reputed/reported assassination of President Kennedy will
some day be shown as the consequence of a modern-day 'Trojan Horse' strategem which enabled the Republican party to gain a solid handle of controls over the country's electoral process." Those damned Republicans!

His analysis of the abortion controversy is particularly insightful. "I submit the controversy is but a euphemism for the abortion of the attempt to surface President Kennedy." The
Iranian hostage crisis "was supposed to have surfaced President Kennedy as the 'significant other' who was presumably being held in hostage. While the world cheered as the hostages got released, there were thousands, I submit, who were disenchanted and
disappointed and chagrined that JFK was not one of them". Indeed. On O.J. Simpson: "O.J. Simpson is as guilty as Oswald and that Nichole and Ron Goldman are as dead as President Kennedy, and that O.J. Simpson 'threw his hat in the ring' in an attempt to
rescue/surface President Kennedy, a feat that President Nixon tried and failed."

Most of the rest of Mr. Bane's book consists of reproductions of his correspondence with prominent citizens, including Senators, Congressmen, and Cardinals, all of whom are unfailingly polite to Mr. Bane. Congressman Downing, for example, writes "Your offer to be a witness before the committee is most generous." Professor Blakey of the House Select Committee on Assassinations writes: "We have been unable to find a staff position which suits your qualifications."

After reading the first paragraph of Mr. Bane's book I found it extremely hard to believe that it had not been written as a joke of some kind. Any man with a family would never be willing to put them through the kind of turmoil that President Kennedy's family went through after his death, yet Mr. Bane casts him as a willing participant in the conspiracy to fake his own assassination. Within twenty pages it becomes clear that Mr. Bane is in fact a paranoid schizophrenic, and that somehow or another his 'release' will coincide with the resurfacing of John Kennedy, who, assuming that he was not killed in Dallas, is most certainly dead by now. Again, this book should not be regarded as anything but a joke. The illustrations included are nonsensical, and Bane's ravings that the deaths of RFK, King and the fall of Nixon had something to do with their attempts to 'rescue' Kennedy are absolutely absurd.

Never understand when reviewers do not check the provenance of works about which they voice opinions. "The Kennedy Conspiracy" Meredith Press. New York/Des Moines. 1969. The first book (except for the brief paperback collection of columns by James and Wardlaw from the New Orleanes Times-Picayune) was the first, and remains notably the most comprehensive, study of the Jim Garrison inquiry.(Likely because the author spent some time the in Crescent City at the district attorney's office and dining with him, as well as knowing several of his staff.Incidentally, Bill Turner, Richard Popkin, Eric Norden, and such assassination luminaries were there around that time.) Anthony Summers' (a tyro in the field) rewriting of much of the original book, having usurped the title, as well (as he did subjects with other of his efforts) appeared thirty-five years later and had nothing to recommend it from the viewpoint of the serious and/or scholarly investigator or historian, nor literato.
Paris Flammonde, author (Mededith, Stein & Day, Hawthorn, G. P. Putnam's Sons, Scarborough House, Dell, Contemporary Classics et al.)

This book is an update on information to Mr. Summers' much earlier, wonderful book, "Conspiracy." In "Not in Your Lifetime (The Kennedy Conspiracy)," Summers changed his approach, apparently not wanting to cover the same ground. It is definitely worth reading, but falls far short of the intensely interesting "Conspiracy."

If you only ever read one book on the Kennedy assassination, "Conspiracy" is the one it should be (5 STARS). Absolutely first-class journalism in a clear and compelling narrative.

There has been an industry in Kennedy assassination books, with nearly half of them ridiculous and nearly another half having no integrity. "Conspiracy," now aging in some aspects, was startling when published, not startling because of extreme claims, but startling for its skilled marshaling of a huge body of facts. It is done so well, you will not be able to put it down.

My apologies to another reviewer under "Conspiracy," but Gerald Posner's book not only contains errors, it brings nothing fresh to the controversy. Posner simply re-interpreted parts of the body of evidence according to his inclination, and he is an awkward writer. But it is the body of evidence itself which is in question, or at least many important parts of it.

The Last Pope is a Da Vinci Code wannabe. It begins with a lie: the title. Albino Luciani, known as John Paul I, was not the last pope. He died in 1978, the year of three popes, on his thirty-third day as His Holiness. Luis Miguel Rocha contends that John Paul I was murdered because he planned to radically change the Catholic Church by allowing birth control and women priests as well as condoning married clergy and homosexuality. More important to certain corrupt cardinals and bishops, the pope planned to rid the Vatican of those who made private fortunes working with criminals and funding political upheavals with the CIA and MI6. Such a good man had to go. Thirty years later a young female journalist receives documents and a key that will expose the murder and coverup. Chased by the CIA, the Vatican and Italian crime lords, she manages to outwit them all by simplistic methods that confirms that this is work of fiction hoping to be made into a film starring Salma Hayek. But if you thought The Da Vinci Code was wonderful, and obviously many did, you will enjoy this novel, which at least is better written. And shorter.

In 1978 with the death of the Pope, the College of Cardinals meets in the Vatican to elect his successor. The Cardinals are divided into two extreme camps between traditionalist Cardinal Agosto Mancini and change agent Cardinal Ignatius Heriot. Thus an unacceptable comprise Cardinal Don Albino Luciani is chosen to sit as John Paul I on the papal throne. He makes clear his intention is to clean up and out the House of God everywhere; a little over a month later, he dies with rumors he was murdered for his ethical cleansing campaign especially to end church-mob ties. A second College of Cardinals session elects Karol Józef Wojtya of Poland as Pope John Paul II.

Three decades later London journalist Sarah Monteiro receives a letter that insists Pope John Paul I was murdered and the attempts to kill his successor were from the same conspiratorial group who also killed Sweden's Prime Minister Olof Palme. However, Sarah assumes this is a hoax worth checking into, but soon believes the accusations are true when several attempts to assassinate her occur. Due to the grace of God she lives, but fears her days are numbered in single digits.

Conspiracy fans will relish the constant power struggle within the highest levels of the Catholic Church. Luis Miguel Rocha builds his exciting story line upon the underlying premise that Pope John Paul I was murdered. The look back to behind the scenes shenanigans by the competing Cardinals in 1978 is fascinating whether one accepts Mr. Rocha's assertion or not. The present scenario with Sarah on the run is more action-packed, but not quite as interesting as three decades ago is. Still thriller fans will enjoy THE LAST POPE wondering how acrimonious poisoning politics even enter the selection of who will wear The Shoes of the Fisherman (by Morris West).

Harriet Klausner