Voila! Finally, the JFK
script is here for all you quotes spouting fans of the Oliver Stone movie
about John F. Kennedy's assassination. This script is a transcript that was painstakingly
transcribed using the screenplay and/or viewings of JFK. I know, I know, I still need to get the cast names in there and I'll be eternally
tweaking it, so if you have any corrections, feel free to
drop me a line. You won't
hurt my feelings. Honest.
January, 1961.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the Nation.
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and arms industry is new...
...in the American experience.
The total influence...
...economic, political, even spiritual...
...is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every government office.
We must guard against the acquisition...
...of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought...
...by the military-industrial complex.
We must never let the weight of this combination...
...endanger our liberties or democratic processes.
November, 1960.
Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy of Massachusetts...
...wins one of the narrowest election victories in American history...
...over Vice President Richard Nixon by a little more than 100,000 votes.
Alongside his beautiful and elegant wife, Jacqueline Bouvier...
...Kennedy is the symbol of the new freedom of the 1960s...
...signifying change and upheaval to the American public.
"All men are created equal."
Every degree of mind and spirit that I possess will be devoted...
...to the cause of freedom around the world.
Today, the proudest boast is:
"Ich bin ein Berliner!"
He inherits a secret war against the Communist Castro dictatorship in Cuba...
...a war run by the CIA and angry Cuban exiles.
Castro is a successful revolutionary...
...frightening to American business interests in Latin America.
This war culminates in the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion...
...in April, 1961...
...when Kennedy refuses to provide air cover for the exiled Cuban brigade.
Kennedy takes public responsibility for the failure.
He privately claims the CIA lied to him...
...and tried to manipulate him into ordering an American invasion of Cuba.
In October, 1962...
...the world comes to the brink of nuclear war...
...when Kennedy quarantines Cuba...
...after announcing the presence of offensive Soviet nuclear missiles...
...90 miles off American shores.
Soviet ships with more missiles sail towards Cuba...
...but at the last moment they turn back.
The world breathes with relief.
In Washington, rumors abound that JFK has cut a secret deal...
...with Russian Premier Khrushchev...
...not to invade Cuba in return for a Russian withdrawal of missiles.
Suspicions abound that Kennedy is soft on communism.
Kennedy also finds himself embroiled in Laos and Vietnam.
We've got our difficulties there.
Unless a greater effort is made by the government...
...to win popular support, I don't think the war can be won there.
It's their war. They're the ones who have to win it or lose it.
Early that fateful summer...
...Kennedy speaks of his new vision at the American University.
What kind of peace do I mean?
What kind of peace do we seek?
Not a Pax Americana...
...enforced on the world by American weapons of war.
We must re-examine our own attitudes towards the Soviet Union.
Our most basic, common link...
...is that we all inhabit...
...this small planet.
We all breathe the same air.
We all cherish our children's futures.
And we are all mortal.
You fucking assholes!
Don't leave me here!
They've gone to Dallas.
Friday.
They're going to kill...
...Kennedy.
Call somebody.
Stop them.
These are serious fucking guys.
She's been high on something since they brought her in.
Help!
Please!
Here is a bulletin from CBS News.
In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired...
...at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas.
The first reports say that President Kennedy...
...has been seriously wounded by the shooting.
What's wrong?
The President's been shot.
In Dallas. Five minutes ago.
Oh, no!
How bad?
No word. They think it's in the head.
Napoleon's has a TV set.
Three bullets were found. Gov. Connally also appeared to have been hit.
The President was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, four miles away.
We are told the bullet entered the base of the throat and came out the back...
...but there is no confirmation.
Blood transfusions are being given. A priest has administered the last rites.
There's still a chance.
Pull through, Jack.
From Dallas...
...the flash, apparently official:
President Kennedy died...
...at 1:00 p.m. Central Standard Time...
...2:00 Eastern Standard Time...
...some 38 minutes ago.
Vice President Johnson has left the hospital.
Presumably he will take the oath of office shortly...
...and become the 36th President of the United States.
He did so much for this country, for colored people. Why?
Good-bye, you sorry bastard! Die!
Shut the fuck up!
I'm ashamed to be an American today.
The President of the United States is dead.
I just talked to Father Oscar Hubert of the Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
He told me...
...President Kennedy has been given the last rites.
Shortly after 12:30...
...near the park in downtown Dallas...
...the shots rang out.
The President is dead.
The bullets came up over our heads...
...from that fence up on the knoll.
I seen his face when it hit.
His ear blew off and he turned real white.
He flopped over on his stomach...
...with his foot sticking out.
None of us thought it could happen in America or any place else.
All this blubbering over that no-count son of a bitch!
They're bawling like they knew the man. Makes me want to puke.
For God's sake, the President was shot.
A bullshit President!
Nobody's crying for the thousands of Cubans...
...that bastard condemned to death and torture at Bay of Pigs.
Goddamn peace treaties!
I heard shots from over there.
-I heard shots from over there. -How many?
That's what happens when you let the niggers vote.
They get together with the Jews and the Catholics...
...and elect an Irish bleeding heart.
Chief, maybe you had too much to drink.
Bullshit!
Here's to the New Frontier.
Camelot in smithereens.
I'll drink to that.
Dallas police have just announced...
...they have a suspect in the killing of Dallas policeman J.D. Tippet...
...who was shot at 1:15 in Oak Cliff, a Dallas suburb.
Police say there could be a tie-in to the President's murder.
The suspect, identified as a Lee Harvey Oswald...
...was arrested by more than a dozen policemen...
...after a short scuffle at a movie theater in Oak Cliff.
Officer Tippet was killed...
...by a revolver which was found on Oswald.
Shoot the bastard!
Give him a medal for shooting Kennedy!
I don't know what I am charged with...
...but I emphatically deny these charges.
The kid must've gone nuts, right?
I said, Oswald must've flipped.
Right?
Just did this crazy thing before anybody could stop him.
I'm going. I've got to get home, Chief.
What are you talking about?
Who'd have ever thought...
...that goofy Oswald kid would pull a stunt like an assassination?
Goes to show you can never know about some people. Am I right, Jack?
Am I right, Jack?
Well, bless my soul.
All these years, I thought you were on my team.
Are you kidding?
I couldn't be more serious, Jack.
Your little red eyes have me wondering about your loyalty.
Look at that, Martin.
Who's been going through my files?
You've been looking through my files, you little weasel!
You're starting to get paranoid. Really!
You went through all my files!
You're a goddamn spy!
Why would I want to look through your files?
I've seen enough here this summer to write a book.
I always lock my files!
You're the only one here today.
What do you mean, you bastard?
You're going to write a book?
You know what I mean.
I've seen a lot of strange things here.
Strange people.
You didn't see a goddamn thing!
Not a goddamn thing!
The full name is Lee Harvey Oswald.
-Did you shoot the President? -I didn't shoot anybody.
They have taken me in because I have lived in the Soviet Union.
I'm just a patsy!
He sure looks like a creep.
I protested at that time I was not allowed legal representation...
...during that very short and sweet hearing.
I really don't know...
...what this situation is about.
Nobody has told me anything except that I am accused...
...of murdering a policeman.
I know nothing more than that.
I do request someone to come forward...
...to give me legal assistance.
Were you ever in the Free Cuba movement or whatever it's called?
It's the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.
Why were you in Russia? What happened to your eye?
He seems pretty cool for a man under pressure.
A policeman hit me.
He gives me the willies.
Come on, sugarplums, it's past your bedtimes.
Mattie, honey, get a hold of yourself.
A fine man.
After a stint in the Marines...
...he became fascinated by communism. He is said to be a dedicated Marxist...
...and a fanatical supporter of Fidel Castro and ultra left-wing causes.
He spent last summer in New Orleans and was arrested...
...in a brawl with anti-Castro Cuban exiles.
Lou? Sorry to disturb you this late.
Matter of routine. Get on this Oswald connection in New Orleans.
Check out his record. Find any friends or associates from last summer.
Let's meet with the investigators day after tomorrow.
On Sunday?
Sunday. 11:00.
Thanks, Lou.
I would say that he is the killer...
...beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty.
I thought a motorcycle had backfired. I looked to my left.
A second shot hit him in the face.
The rifle, a cheap World War Il, Italian-made Mannlicher-Carcano...
...was ordered from a Chicago mailing house...
...and shipped to Oswald's alias, A. Hidell...
...at a post office box in March of 1963.
This same rifle was used to assassinate the President.
That ties it up.
Another nut. Jesus Christ, anybody can get a rifle in Texas!
As far as Oswald's associates, one name keeps popping up: David Ferrie.
Oswald was seen with him several times last summer.
I know David. Strange character.
He's been in trouble before. He was a hot-shot pilot for Eastern Airlines.
Got canned after an alleged homosexual incident.
These photos were found yesterday among Oswald's possessions...
...in the garage where Marina Oswald and her children are living.
Somebody mentioned Ferrie on that Texas trip. Find that out.
He no shoot anyone.
He good man. Good husband.
So it seems David Ferrie drove off on Friday afternoon for Texas.
A source said he might have been a getaway pilot for Oswald.
Hold your horses.
What kind of source?
The anonymous kind, Chief.
I remember Ferrie speaking at a meeting of some veterans group...
...ranting against Castro. Extreme stuff.
They're bringing him out. Numa, turn it up.
Here he comes!
Anything to say in your defense?
Oswald!
He shot him!
He shot him on TV!
There's a man with a gun!
Seventy cops there. What were they doing?
No trial now. Somebody just saved the Dallas DA a pile of work.
Let's get David Ferrie in here anyway.
It's wrong. This is crazy!
Yesterday, in the midst of sorrow, the business of government went on.
The President met with Henry Cabot Lodge, our Ambassador to Vietnam...
...and members of his Cabinet.
The major subject was Vietnam...
...a crisis that does not pause for bereavement.
From this meeting...
...came affirmations that the US would continue aiding...
...the new government of Vietnam in its war against the Communist insurgents.
David Ferrie.
Come on in.
Thanks for coming.
Remember me? We met on Carondelet Street after your election.
I remember. You make quite an impression.
I've heard you're a first-rate pilot.
Legend has it you can get in and out of the smallest field.
I'm a pilot myself. Flew grasshoppers for the field artillery in the war.
Make yourself comfortable.
Mind if I smoke?
How could I?
As you know, President Kennedy was assassinated on Friday.
A man named Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested as a suspect...
...then murdered yesterday by a man named Jack Ruby.
We've had reports that Oswald spent the summer here...
...and that you knew Oswald.
I've never met anyone named Oswald. Anyone who told you that has to be crazy.
He served in your Civil Air Patrol unit when he was a teenager.
If he did, I don't remember him.
Lots of boys in and out.
Surely you've seen this. Perhaps you knew him under another name?
I never saw him before in my life.
Then we must have gotten mistaken information.
Thanks for straightening it out.
There's one other matter.
We heard you went to Texas shortly after the assassination on Friday.
True. I drove to Houston.
What was so appealing about Houston?
I hadn't been ice-skating lately. Some young friends and I...
...decided to go skating.
Why the urge to ice-skate in Texas...
...during one of the worst thunderstorms in recent memory?
Spur-of-the-moment thing.
Storm wasn't that bad.
Where did you drive?
We went to Houston.
Saturday we drove to Galveston, and stayed there.
And Sunday?
In the morning, we went goose hunting.
Did you bag any?
The boys got a couple.
Boys said they didn't get any.
They're right.
There were thousands of geese everywhere.
But you couldn't approach them. They're wise.
Your friends said you had no weapons.
Isn't it difficult to hunt geese without a shotgun?
I remember now. I'm sorry.
I got confused.
We got near the geese, then realized we had forgotten our shotguns.
Stupid, right?
So, of course, we didn't get any geese.
Thank you for your time.
Sorry this must end inconveniently...
...but I must detain you for questioning by the FBI.
Why? What's wrong?
Your story is not believable.
Really?
What part?
This afternoon the FBI released David W. Ferrie...
...of New Orleans.
After extensive questioning and a background check...
...the Bureau found no evidence that Mr. Ferrie knew Lee Harvey Oswald...
...or had any connection with the assassination.
The agent in charge would like to make clear...
...that Ferrie was brought in for questioning...
...by the District Attorney of Orleans Parish.
I thought we were on the same side.
Why are they saying that?
Pretty fast, the way they let him go.
They must know something we don't.
So let's get on with our lives.
We have many homegrown crimes to prosecute.
The President has announced...
...the creation of a commission to probe the events in Dallas.
It will be headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren...
...and is expected to head off several Congressional and Texas inquiries.
On the panel are Allen Dulles, ex-chief of the CIA...
...Representative Gerald Ford, banker John McCloy....
Fucking out of control. All of these hippies running around on drugs.
You can't tell a boy from a girl anymore.
I saw a girl the other day. Pregnant. You could see her whole belly.
You know what she had painted on it? "Love Child."
It's a mess down there, Jim.
We've bitten off more Vietnam than we can chew.
It figures with that polecat Lyndon in the White House.
I sometimes think things have gone downhill since Kennedy died.
Don't get me started on that.
Those Warren Commission fellows were picking gnat shit out of pepper.
Nobody's going to tell me that kid shot like he did from that bookstore.
But the FBI test-fired the rifle to see if it could be done.
Three experts and not one of them could do it.
They say that Oswald got off three shots with world-class precision...
...from a manual bolt-action rifle in less than six seconds.
According to his Marine buddies, he got Maggie's drawers.
That means he wasn't any good.
Average man would be lucky to shoot twice.
And the first would be the best.
Here the third shot's perfect.
And they got that bullet zigzagging all over the place...
...hitting Kennedy and Connally seven times.
One pristine bullet? That dog don't hunt.
Something's always bothered me about that from day one.
Think other men were involved?
If I was investigating the case, I'd round up 100 of the world's best riflemen...
...and find out which ones were in Dallas that day.
You been duck hunting. Oswald's an old-fashioned decoy.
What did he say? "I'm just a patsy!" Believe it.
Dinner's just about ready.
Got a surprise for you tonight. Tried something new.
-What? -Dinner.
Smells good. Do you know Oswald...
...was interrogated for 12 hours after the assassination...
...with no lawyer present, and nobody recorded a word of it.
I can't believe it. An experienced police captain and a crowd of FBI agents...
...had to know that with no record, what Oswald said is inadmissible in court.
Let's talk at the table. It's getting cold.
What are you doing here?
Daddy said it's okay if I'm quiet.
Sure it is.
If I handled a minor felon that way, it'd be all over the papers.
This is the alleged murderer of the President.
Again and again credible testimony's ignored.
Leads are not followed up, conclusions are selective, no index.
It's the sloppiest investigation I've ever seen.
Dozens of witnesses heard the shots...
...coming from the grassy knoll in front of Kennedy...
...not the Book Depository behind him.
But it's broken down and spread around. You read it, but the point is lost.
I never believed it.
I'll do the dishes. You take Eb up.
Elizabeth, your bedtime too!
That was three years ago. We've tried to put it out of our minds.
You keep digging it up.
You're the DA of New Orleans.
Isn't the Kennedy assassination a bit out of your domain?
All those important people studied it.
I can't believe a man as intelligent as Earl Warren read those volumes.
Maybe you're right.
You got an hour to solve the case while I get the kids in bed.
Then you're mine. Mr. Kennedy will have to wait until morning.
Look, Dad. Look what I drew.
That's something. What is it?
It's a rhino in a cage.
-Can I stay up another hour? -I don't think so, Son.
Pickle and Snapper, my two...
...dancing partners.
Good night, doodlebugs.
One hour, you hear?
Some Saturday-night date you are.
Mama warned me this would happen if I married such a serious man as you.
When I come up, I'll show you how Saturday night got invented.
I sealed off the area and held off the trains till they could be examined.
There were some transients taken on at least one train.
Mr. Bowers, you already talked to us about this matter. Is that correct?
Yes.
Is there anything else you told us...
...that I haven't asked you about, that you can think of?
Nothing that I can recall.
Witness is excused.
A long freight was in there...
...and we pulled some people off and took them to the station.
Do you mean some transients?
Tramps and hobos.
Were they questioned?
They were questioned at the station.
Ask the question.
Let's go back to that Amos Euins matter.
Traffic had been cut off into the area since 10:00.
But three cars came in during this time...
...from around noon till the time of the shooting.
They circled the parking lot and left.
Like they was checking the area.
One of the drivers...
...was holding something...
...up to his mouth.
The last car came in about seven to ten minutes before the shooting.
It was a white Chevrolet four-door Impala.
Muddy up to the windows.
Towards the underpass, I saw two men...
...standing behind a picket fence...
...looking up towards Main and Houston, as the caravan came down.
One of them was middle-aged...
...heavyset.
The other man was younger.
Two other men were on the east end of the parking lot.
They both had uniforms.
At the time of the shooting...
...there seemed to be some commotion.
I'm just unable to describe...
...a flash of light or smoke or something...
...which caused me to feel that something out of the ordinary...
...had occurred on the embankment.
Goddamn.
No!
-You all right? -Honey, it's incredible.
What?
The whole thing.
A Lt. Colonel testifies that...
...Oswald had a Russian language exam as part of his Marine training...
...only a few months before he defects to the Soviet Union.
A Russian exam.
It's 4:30 in the morning! I have five kids who'll wake up in an hour.
In all my years in the military, I never knew a single man who had a Russian test.
Oswald was a radar operator.
He'd have about as much use for Russian as a cat has for pajamas.
These books have gotten to your mind!
-Stop reading. -He makes it sound like nothing.
Oswald did badly on his test.
He got only two more Russian words right than wrong.
That's like me saying Touchdown is not very intelligent...
...because I beat him three games out of five when we played chess.
Are you going to stay up all night, every night? For what?
To be the only man who's read all 26 volumes of the Warren Report?
Do I have to spell it out for you?
Lee Oswald was no ordinary soldier.
He was in military intelligence, that's why he was trained in Russian.
It was no accident he was in Russia.
-Go back to sleep. -I've been sleeping for three years!
'Morning boys. Ready for a walking tour?
7:30 Sunday morning? Not exactly fresh blood we're sniffing.
Old stains, but just as telling.
531 Lafayette Street.
Remember whose office this was in '63?
Sure. Guy Banister.
Ex-FBI man. Died a couple of years ago.
He headed the Chicago office. When he retired he became a private eye here.
I used to have lunch with him. John Birch Society, Minutemen.
To the right of Attila the Hun.
Recruited students to infiltrate radical organizations on campus.
Headed the Anti-Communist League of the Caribbean.
All out of this office.
I want to show you something.
Take a look here.
544 Camp Street.
531 Lafayette Street.
Same building, right?
Different addresses, different entrances, both going to the same place...
...to the office upstairs.
Guess who used it?
Lee Harvey Oswald.
How do we know that?
This address was stamped on...
...pro-Castro leaflets he handed out in the summer of '63 on Canal Street.
The same leaflets they found in his garage in Dallas.
After the arrest, 544 Camp St. never appeared on the pamphlets again.
He was arrested for fighting with anti-Castro Cubans.
But he'd contacted them already...
...as an ex-Marine trying to join their anti-Castro crusade.
When they heard he was now pro-Castro, they paid him a visit.
What's this Fidel shit?
You lied to me!
Liar! Son of a bitch!
Do not take this Communist propaganda!
If you want to hit me, hit me.
You pinko shit!
Go back to Moscow!
There was no real fight.
The arresting Lieutenant later said he felt it was a staged incident.
In jail, Oswald has a private session...
...with Special Agent John Quigley of the FBI.
Oswald is released.
And Quigley destroys his notes from the interview.
The arrest gets Oswald a lot of publicity.
And he appears on a local TV debate.
You are a Communist, are you not?
No, Mr. Bringuier. I am not a Communist.
I'm a Marxist-Leninist.
Communist, Marxist-Leninist, what's the difference?
What if I told you Oswald was trained in the Russian language in the Marines?
I'd say he got intelligence training.
You were a Marine. Who'd run it?
Office of Naval Intelligence.
Look across the street.
Post Office.
Upstairs, in 1963, that was the Office of Naval Intelligence.
By coincidence, Banister, before he was FBl, was ONI.
What's their saying?
"Once ONl, always ONI."
He likes working near his old pals.
We are standing in the heart of...
...the US government's intelligence community in New Orleans.
That's the FBI.
That's the CIA.
That's the Secret Service.
That's the ONI.
Isn't this a strange place for...
...a Communist to spend his spare time?
What are you driving at?
We're going back into the case.
The murder of the President.
Lord, wake me. I must be dreaming.
You're awake. I'm deadly serious.
Now, let's track down your anonymous source from three years ago.
How'd you find out David Ferrie drove to Texas that day?
I can't remember last night, let alone three years ago, Boss.
You're not being cross-examined.
I need clarification about the night Guy Banister beat you over the head.
Don't tell me you don't remember.
You called our office from your hospital bed. You were hopping mad about it.
Here's my problem.
You told me you and Guy were good friends for a long time.
-Over ten years. -And he never hit you before?
Never touched me.
Yet, on November 22, 1963, the day...
...of the President's murder...
...the police report says...
...he pistol-whipped you with a .357 Magnum.
It also says you argued about the phone bill. Look!
Is an argument over a phone bill a believable explanation to you?
There's more to it.
How much more?
I shouldn't talk about it.
I'd ask Guy. We were friendly. Heart attack?
You buy what you read in the papers.
-You have other information? -I didn't say that!
All I know is he died suddenly. Just before the Warren Report came out.
Why did Guy beat you, Jack?
You were the only one here!
The only one here!
You didn't see a goddamn thing!
Hell, Guy's dead, so it don't matter no more. It was all about those...
...people that was hanging around the office that summer.
I was never part of the operation.
I just handled their private-eye work as it came in for Guy.
Not much did, but that's why I was there.
It was a nuthouse.
Cubans coming, going. And Christ, they all looked the same to me.
You going to play with this rifle or pack it?
Dave Ferrie.
-You know about him? -We know Dave. Was he there?
He practically lived there.
The whole thing was all...
...cloak-and-dagger stuff.
They called it "Operation Mongoose."
The idea was to train these Cuban exiles for another invasion of Cuba.
Banister's office was part of the supply line...
...from Dallas through New Orleans to Miami.
We stockpiled arms, explosives.
In view of the intelligence community in Lafayette Square?
Yes. Everybody knew everybody. They were all part of the network.
All worked for the CIA.
Pilots and black operators and civilians and the military.
Everybody was running guns then.
Ft. Jefferson, Bayou Bluff, Morgan City, you name it.
McAllen, Texas? Big gun-run operation.
Where does Banister fit in?
He was running his camp north of Lake Pontchartrain.
Ferrie did a lot of the training.
They had a shooting range and tropical territory, like in Cuba.
Some Americans were trained there too.
Nazi types. Mercenaries.
That Ferrie, though. Jesus, he was the craziest.
Late summer the party was over. Kennedy didn't want another Bay of Pigs.
He told the FBl, "Shut up the camp."
"Confiscate the napalm, C-4 and all."
The G-men were just going through the motions.
Their hearts were still with their old FBI buddy Banister.
Oswald?
He was there too.
Sometimes meeting with Banister.
With the door shut.
Shootin' the bull with Ferrie, whatever. But he was there, all right.
Was anyone else involved at...
...Banister's level?
One guy. I don't know who.
Big. White hair.
I saw him in the office once. He looked out of place.
You know, a society guy.
Can't remember his name, but Oswald was with him.
He had something to do with money, because Banister never kissed ass...
...but he kissed his.
Clay something.
That was his name. Clay....
-Bertrand? -Yeah.
-Clay Bertrand? -I don't know.
-Maybe not. -No, that's right.
I must go.
He was in the Warren Report. He got Oswald a lawyer.
Was Kennedy discussed?
I don't know.
-The assassination? -No.
-Not with me. I've got to go. -Hold on.
-That's all I'll say. -What's the problem?
Do I have to spell it out for you?
Nobody knows what we're talking about here.
Oh, you are so naive.
-When'd you do business with Bertrand? -Pipe the bimbo in red.
Lawdy.
She's not as cute as you.
-You should try a legitimate business. -Why are you dancing on my head?
-We've been friends since law school. -Because you're conning me.
-I read your testimony. -Grain of salt.
You said Clay Bertrand called you the day after the assassination...
-...and asked you to be Oswald's lawyer. -Right.
That's pretty important.
You told the FBI he's 6-foot two. Then you tell the Commission he's 5-foot 8.
How the hell does a man shrink like that?
They put the heat on me, like you. I gave them whatever popped in my cabeza.
Truth is, I never met the dude.
-One likes friends that have friends. -lndeed.
I don't know what that cat looks like or where he's at.
All I know is sometimes he sends me some cases.
One day he calls, talks to me about repping Oswald in Dallas.
You ever speak to Oswald in Dallas?
I told that Bertrand cat right off this ain't my scene.
-I'm a hack. He needs a hot dog. -Then how did you get in the Commission?
Like I told the Washington boys...
...Bertrand asked me that summer to help the kid upgrade his Marine discharge.
Mr. Bertrand said he would take care of any of--
Fine.
-To whom am I speaking? -Clay Bertrand. I'll pay what they owe.
There was no conspiracy. If there was, why didn't Bobby Kennedy prosecute?
He was his brother.
How'd so many people keep such a secret?
-lt was Oswald. He hated-- -We're having a communication problem.
I know you know who Clay Bertrand is. Stop eating that crabmeat and listen.
I'm aware of our friendship, but I'll call you before the grand jury.
You lie to them as you lied to me, I'll charge you with perjury.
I took nine judges on here in New Orleans.
I beat them all. Am I communicating with you?
Off the record?
In that case, let me sum it up for you.
If I answer that question you keep asking...
...if I give you the name of the big enchilada...
...then it's bon voyage, Deano.
Like a bullet in my head, you dig?
You're a mouse fighting a gorilla. JFK's dead as that crabmeat.
The government's still breathing.
Either you give the grand jury Clay Bertrand's real identity...
...or your fat behind's going to the slammer.
You're as crazy as your mama. It's in the genes.
Do you know what you're getting into?
The government will jump all over your head and go cock-a-doodle-doo.
Good day to you, sir.
District Attorney Garrison to see Prisoner 5388.
Ward block 2378.
We don't need gates with that swamp.
Many of them gone in there, none of them came out.
You got visitors here. Don't give them trouble.
-How you doing, Mr. Broussard? -Let's go, Willie.
Thank you, Mr. O'Keefe, for this time.
I got nothing but time.
Minutes, hours, days. Years of it.
Time stands still here, like a snake sunning itself.
Clay Bertrand?
I met him sometime in...
...June of '62. The Masquerade Bar.
Dave Ferrie took me there expressly to meet him.
Sexual purposes?
Did he pay you?
$20 each time. Ain't no secret. That's what I'm in here for.
Anything unusual about him...
...you'd be able to describe in court?
He had something wrong with his leg. A limp.
Don't get me wrong. He's not one of those limp wrists.
He's a butch John. Meet him on the street, you'd never snap.
You could play poker with him, go fishing, you'd never snap.
One night we were at David Ferrie's...
...some time late in the summer of '63.
There was about nine to ten people there.
Cuban. Friends who'd done stuff in the bush with him. Place was a mess.
Dave's mind was a mess. He had caged mice...
...'cause he's working on a cancer cure.
Dave's smart, though. Speaks five languages.
Knows philosophy, medicine, military history, politics.
He wanted to be a priest. They defrocked him 'cause he was queer.
That's where you first met Oswald?
Strange guy. Dave introduced him as....
Leon Oswald.
How you doing?
What the fuck is he doing here?
Fuck you, motherfucker.
Leon's in a bad mood. Don't get excited.
You said Leon was actually Lee Harvey Oswald?
Yeah. I have no reason to lie to you.
I'm already in jail.
Go on.
Finally they left and I was alone with Dave...
...and this Leon...
...two of the Cubans, and this guy Bertrand.
Dave pulled out some clippings.
He'd been obsessed with Castro and Kennedy for months.
Little ass-wipe closed down the camps! Took our C-4!
Took 10,000 rounds! 3,000 pounds of gunpowder!
All our weapons!
You want to free Cuba? Whack out the fucking beard!
Kennedy won't let us. Our hands are empty. How can we?
Problem is getting to him. Informers on every block.
They got new stuff!
I could show you dozens of poisons! Put it in his food, he'd die in three days.
No trace!
Put something in his beard, make it fall out. He'd look ridiculous....
Fucking Kennedy is doing all kinds of deals with that bastard Khrushchev.
Licking his ass.
An inspired act of God should happen here and put a Texan in the White House!
The Cubans left. Dave was drunk.
He started in on Kennedy again.
I will kill! In the White House! Stab him in the heart!
Somebody must get rid of him!
You won't get that son of a bitch!
It won't be long. That fucker will get what he deserves.
It could be blamed on Castro, the country will want to invade Cuba.
We just need to get him in the open.
Always some harebrained scheme.
Let's have some more champagne, shall we?
What about the Secret Service? The cops?
If it's planned right, no problem. They got close to De Gaulle.
Eisenhower always rode in open top.
We need three mechanics in three different locations.
An office building, a high-powered rifle.
Triangulation of crossfire, that's the key. That's the key.
A diversionary shot gets the Secret Service looking one way.
Boom! Get the kill shot.
One man has to be sacrificed.
In the commotion, the job gets done.
The others leave the country.
Let's drop this subject. It's one thing to banter with these kids...
...but this sort of thing could be so easily misunderstood.
I didn't think much about it then. It's just bullshit.
People like to act more important than they are.
Especially in the homosexual underworld.
But when they got him...
...I got scared.
Real scared.
That's when I got popped.
The things you said will be attacked by many people.
Bring them on. Bring their college degrees in here, I got nothing to hide.
No one can buy me.
-I don't even need this parole. -What parole?
You liberal, you don't know shit 'cause you never been fucked in the ass.
This ain't about justice! No, this is about order!
Who rules? Fascism is coming back.
Nobody wants to buy you. No one's promising you parole.
What I need to know is why are you telling us this.
'Cause that motherfucker Kennedy...
...stole that motherfucking election, that's why.
Nixon was going to be a great President until Kennedy wrecked this country.
Niggers wanting rights! Why do you think we have all this crime.
He promised those motherfuckers too much!
Revolution's coming, bullshit! Fascism's coming back!
The day that Communist son of a bitch died was a great day!
A great day for this country.
I hate to think they blame it on silly, fucking Oswald.
Didn't know shit, anyway.
People got to know. People got to know why he was killed.
Because he was a Communist.
You go ahead, put me on the stand, I'll tell the same goddamned story!
Don't matter to me!
All right, Willie. Thanks.
We'll be in touch.
All right.
You know, you're not a bad-looking man.
Not bad at all.
I get out of here, I'll come see you. We can have fun!
Their testimony won't hold up in court.
Their reputations are lower than crocodile piss.
That bothers you?
If a woman's a prostitute, must she also have bad eyesight?
Find Clay Bertrand. Start by checking around the Quarter.
The six of us, with almost no budget and in secret...
...will solve a case the Warren Commission couldn't?
-I didn't pick you for your legal skill. -Thanks, Boss.
You're a fighter. I like a man who's not afraid of bad odds.
Mr. Garrison, how are you? Remember me?
You vote for me?
I did. We sang together at the Royal Orleans, remember?
We sang:
"You're the cream in my coffee."
Haven't seen you much lately.
Been too busy. Elected men can't have as much fun as they used to.
It's always nice to see you. Pleasure to serve you always.
How are you? Nice to see you.
Welcome back, Lou.
-Think I could get a martini? -They're waiting for you, sir.
Keep that table open for us.
Anything on the hoboes?
Dallas Times Herald photographer got great shots.
Never published.
Can't say that comes as a surprise.
They took them to the sheriff's and let them go. No record of questioning.
Do they look like the hoboes you remember?
These two look young.
Not a frayed collar or cuff, fresh haircuts and shaves...
-...clean hands, new shoe leather. -Who the hell are they then?
Sit down.
This could be it. Let's look for them.
What about the railroad man, Lee Bowers, who saw the men at the picket fence?
Graveyard. Dead. August this year.
Single-car accident on an empty road in Midlothian, Texas.
The doctor said he was in a strange shock when he died.
We need to find more witnesses.
There was Rose Cheramie, a whore.
She said she was a dope runner for Jack Ruby.
And that Ruby knew Oswald for years.
-Can we talk to her? -She's dead too.
Hit and run.
Why don't we go to the horse's mouth?
Jack Ruby's been in a Dallas jail cell for three years. Maybe he'll crack.
Can't. If I go to him our investigation will hit the front pages.
It'll blow up in our face. Susie, what did you find on Oswald?
Negative on his tax records. Classified.
First time a DA can't get a tax record.
I asked for the CIA files on Oswald that were part of the Warren Report.
About 1,200 documents. Can't get one of them.
All classified as secret on the grounds of national security.
Gave me his grammar school records. It's a study of his pubic hairs.
Lonely kid, no father.
Joins the Marines at 17.
Learns Russian. Acts overtly Marxist.
But he's stationed at a top-secret air base in Japan...
...where U-2 spy flights over Russia originate.
He's discharged...
...supposedly because his mother's sick. Stays home three days.
Then, with a $1,500 ticket from a $203 bank account, he goes to Moscow.
Mr. Oswald, do you understand...
-...the action you are about to take? -Yes, I do, sir.
I wish to renounce my citizenship...
...and become a Soviet citizen.
I'll give them all the information I have on the Marines.
He disappears for six weeks, presumably with the KGB.
He's taken to a radio factory in Minsk...
...where he lives as high on the hog as he ever has.
He's given 5,000 rubles, a roomy apartment with a balcony.
Has affairs with local girls.
Makes sense. He's a spokesman.
But he never does any propaganda for the Russians.
He meets Marina.
Her uncle is a colonel in Soviet intelligence.
She thinks he's Russian by his speech.
Six weeks later they marry, have a daughter.
Only explanation for the royal treatment is he gave them radar secrets.
Or fake secrets.
Six months after he's in Russia...
...Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy flight goes down...
...in Russia. That plane was untouchable.
Powers hinted that Oswald...
...could've given the Russians enough data to hit it.
As a result, the peace summit between Khrushchev and Eisenhower failed.
Perhaps our military didn't want the conference to happen?
Maybe Oswald was part of that!
-Stick to what you can prove in court. -You want facts?
Don't get sidetracked. How'd he get back to the States?
Does he have any problems with Uncle Sam?
No. The State Department issues him a new passport in 48 hours...
...and loans him travel money.
He's never investigated or charged for revealing classified information...
...or, as far as we know, debriefed by the CIA.
Bastard should've been prosecuted as a traitor when he got off the boat.
Did Marina have problems getting out?
None, though it's almost impossible to get Russian sweethearts out.
This is a man who defected once already. It's crazy. Ordinary people...
...get blacklisted for having leftist affiliations.
Doesn't add up.
Next thing, he's living in Dallas-Fort Worth, October '62...
...working six months at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall...
...a photographic firm that makes maps for the US Army.
Oswald becomes chummy with the Dallas White Russian community.
All rabid anti-Communists.
It's odd.
The Oswalds are introduced to Janet and Bill Williams.
It's through Janet Williams, in October '63, that Lee gets the job...
...at the warehouse on Elm Street at the Book Depository.
So he can now exercise his intellect, stacking school texts at $1.25 an hour.
Marina fights with Lee about many things.
His secrecy, their lack of money.
She says that Lee is not sexually adequate.
Lee hits her on several occasions.
At the age of 24...
...he rents a room in Dallas under the alias of O.H. Lee.
Do you want to watch TV? Are you all right?
No, thank you. I'm fine.
All I know about the Williams is their tax returns are classified.
Bill Williams has links to the CIA through his family...
...does classified work for Bell Helicopter.
Bill's convenient separation from Janet allows Marina to move into her house...
...where she suddenly becomes Marina's best friend.
There Marina and Lee have a second daughter.
I have to go away. Just for a short while.
What's wrong with this family?
I love Lee...
...and I sorry him.
Sorry for him?
Yes.
When he's arrested, Marina buries him with the public.
She describes him as a psychotic and violent man.
I have too much facts...
...and facts tell me that Lee shot Kennedy.
After being locked away by the feds for two months...
...and afraid she'd be deported...
...she was probably suffering from nervous exhaustion.
They taught her how to answer.
When they think she's ready, they buy her dresses...
...polish her appearance and wheel her out.
-I'd like to thank the Warren Commission. -Oswald was no angel.
But who was he?
I'm lost. What are we saying?
That when Oswald went to Russia, he was not a real defector.
He was an intelligence agent for our government and remained one till he died.
So, because Oswald pulled the trigger...
...the intelligence community murdered the President?
I'll go you one better. Maybe Oswald...
...didn't pull the trigger.
Nitrate tests indicate he hadn't fired a rifle on November 22.
And they didn't bother to see if the rifle'd been fired that day.
-His palm print was on it. -lt went to the FBI.
FBI didn't find a goddamn thing.
It comes back a week later and a Dallas policeman suddenly finds a palm print?
It could've been taken at the morgue. There's no chain of evidence.
I can't figure out why he orders a traceable weapon...
...to a P.O. box, when he can go into any store in Texas...
...give a phony name and walk out with an untraceable rifle.
To frame him, obviously!
A lot of smoke, but some fire.
We're talking about our government!
We're talking about a crime.
You must think on a different level, like the CIA does.
We're through the looking glass.
White is black.
And black is white.
Maybe Oswald is just what he said he was.
A patsy.
Unbelievable. You were here?
Yes, this is where I was sitting.
Shots came from near the wooden fence over there...
...near the overpass.
I saw a man run from the fence toward those railroad cars.
I made it clear to the Warren people.
One of the shots came from behind that picket fence.
I heard the report and saw smoke, six or eight feet above the ground.
Out from under those trees.
All four of us railroad men...
...seen the same thing.
The smoke came from behind the hedge.
I was standing next to Mary Moorman, who took the photo when he was killed.
I stepped down to the curb and yelled:
"Mr. President, look over here!"
Then shots rang out.
Mary dropped to the ground, yelling, "They're shooting! Get down!"
I just stood there watching.
The driver had stopped.
I don't know what was wrong with him.
Out of the corner of my eye...
...I saw a flash of light in the bushes.
And that last shot...
...just ripped his head off.
I looked up and saw smoke coming from over there, on the knoll.
We came around to look for tracks.
It rained that morning and we found a bunch.
Cigarette butts.
Someone had stood about...here.
That's a good spot.
For the head shot.
Everything was just frozen.
Like people weren't breathing. Like you were looking at a picture.
Except for one man.
I saw this one man running from the corner of the Book Depository...
...to the parking lot.
It was about 11:00 a.m.
I was driving on Elm Street toward the underpass in a rented car.
A light-blue Valiant.
I'll never forget that day. There was a lot of traffic...
...and I stopped alongside a green pickup truck.
It was very noticeable because it had one wheel up on the curb.
When I saw the gun, I thought...
..."The Secret Service is not very secret."
The next morning, I went to the FBI office.
They showed me some pictures.
And I picked out three pictures that looked like the truck's driver.
That's the man.
You mean you identified Jack Ruby on Saturday?
That's right.
The day before he shot Oswald?
That's right. When I saw him on TV, I was shocked.
I said to my family, "That's the man I saw in the truck."
You weren't so sure in your statement to the Commission.
What about these others? You said one might be him?
They look a bit like him, but I'm sure this is the man.
It was him I chased up the grassy knoll.
I thought maybe our guys had shot back and got one of them.
I got to the parking lot.
All I saw were the railroad workers and Dallas' finest.
-Secret Service. Come with us. -No! Find the shooter!
I want your pictures.
Son of a bitch!
He put a hurt on me, but good.
They must've seen everything because they knew what we had done all day.
I wasn't hard to find, wearing that red raincoat.
-How many shots did you hear? -Four to six.
Impossible!
You heard echoes!
We have three bullets and three shots that came from the Book Depository.
-That's all we'll say. -No, sir.
I saw a man shooting from behind that fence. What are you going to do?
-You go out there and get him! -That's taken care of!
You only heard three shots, and don't discuss this with anyone.
No one. Understand?
Which is strange 'cause it's less than 20 minutes after the assassination.
Get her out of here.
I knew something was crooked as a dog's hind leg.
When I read my testimony in the Warren Report...
...it was a total fabrication.
That's what bothers me, Mr. Garrison. They've altered my statements.
This one says:
"Mercer couldn't identify any photograph as being the man she observed...
"...slouched over the wheel of the green truck." Not true.
I recognized him and I told them so.
Take your time.
I'm sure.
And the sheriff's report....
This is really strange.
See that notarized signature?
That's not mine.
There wasn't any notary present during my questioning.
Mrs. Mercer, as a former FBI man...
...it's difficult to accept this.
Beverly, tell Mr. Garrison about the Carousel Club.
I used to go there to see Jack and my friend, Jatta, who danced there.
It was a real swinging spot in town.
Everybody came.
Businessmen, politicians from Austin, LBJ's friends....
Dallas was a slowpokin' town then.
You chewed toothpicks, played dominoes, spit, dated policemen.
But Jack was exciting. There were always cops there.
Jack liked them around, even though he threw out the drunks himself.
He had a violent temper.
Everyone in those days knew Jack was in the mob.
Cops back then, they were bad.
They'd shake you down for the money in your pocket.
What about Lee?
One time I came in.
Jack introduced me to two guys. He says, "This is my friend, Lee...."
I don't remember the other guy's name.
But he was a weird-looking guy. He had these eyebrows.
And he looked like a buzzard.
Lee didn't make much of an impression.
He wasn't very handsome.
He didn't look like he had any money, and he was in a bad mood.
So, I didn't pay him much mind.
I may not remember a name, but I always remember a face.
Later, when I saw him on television...
...I screamed, "My God, that's him!"
"That's Jack's friend!"
Will you testify, Beverly?
-I don't think so. -I thought we had an agreement.
-I don't want to be another statistic. -We could call you in.
If they can kill the President of the United States...
...you think they'll think twice about a two-bit showgirl like me?
I understand the pressure you're under.
Don't think that I don't.
We both do.
Mr. Chief Justice, do you understand that I can't tell the truth in Dallas?
There are people here who do not want me to tell the truth.
Who don't want me to have a retrial?
Why don't you just tell us now?
My life is in danger!
If you request that I go to Washington....
That is, if you want to hear further testimony from me.
Can you take me with you?
No. It can't be done.
There would be no safe place for you.
We're not law-enforcement officers.
There's a great deal at stake in this matter.
If I'm eliminated...
...there won't be any way of knowing any bit of truth pertaining to my situation.
Consequently, a whole new form of government will take over.
And I won't live to see you some other time.
I want to tell the truth.
And then...
...leave this world.
The Zapruder film establishes three shots in 5.6 seconds.
I'm Oswald.
Time me.
Go.
Time?
Between six and seven seconds.
Without really aiming.
The second and third shots came almost right on top of each other.
It takes a minimum of...
...2.3 seconds to recycle this thing.
The other problem is, there was a tree...
...blocking the first two shots when fired in the Zapruder film.
Didn't Hoover say something about leaves falling in November?
It was Texas live oak, Chief.
It sheds its leaves in early March.
Take this Carcano, world's worst shoulder weapon...
...and try to hit a moving target at 88 yards through heavy foliage.
No way.
FBI tried two sets of tests.
Not one sharpshooter could match Oswald's performance.
Not one.
Oswald was at best a medium shot.
The scope was defective on it too.
This is the whole essence of the case to me.
The guy couldn't do the shooting.
Nobody could.
They sold this lemon to the American public.
The Zapruder film was the proof they didn't count on.
We must get hold of it.
It means we'll have to subpoena Time-Life.
Let me ask you something.
Why not just shoot Kennedy on Houston?
Plenty of time.
-He's out in the open. -I keep asking myself the same thing.
-Frontal shot. -Even if you miss him once...
...if he accelerates, you get a second shot.
The only reason to get him on Elm...
...is you got him in a triangulated crossfire.
You put a team there down at the fence.
Frontal shot. Flat, low trajectory.
Put a third team down in this building...
...on a low floor.
When Kennedy gets in the kill zone, it's a turkey shoot.
How many men?
One shooter. One spotter on a radio. Maybe three teams.
These are professional riflemen. Serious people.
Hunters.
Patient.
It takes skill to kill with a rifle.
That's why no chief executive's been executed with one in 200 years.
Three...
...two...
...one.
Clay Bertrand? Sure, I know him.
Comes to the Quarter.
Who is he? I've been to all the bars. Nobody wants to talk.
Why should they talk to you?
I told your uncle, I never met a lawman who wasn't a punk.
A big-shot businessman. I seen him on the TV news...
...with all the other big shots.
The guy's a fag, you know?
Goes by another name.
What name?
Shaw.
Clay Shaw.
Clay Bertrand is Clay Shaw?
Guy who ran the International Trade Mart?
What's the mystery? Everybody down here knows him.
Then why does he call himself Bertrand?
Who gives a shit what he calls himself?
Will you give us a little help on that grand jury thing?
I hope so. We could use it.
Your hunch was right, Boss.
In January 1961, in New Orleans, at the Bolton Ford dealership...
...when the Oswald we know is in Russia...
...there is a man using the name of Oswald to buy trucks...
...for the Friends of Democratic Cuba.
$300 down, Mr. Oswald, you can drive out with it.
Salesman never sees him again, but guess who's...
...on the articles of incorporation of the Friends of Democratic Cuba?
Guy Banister.
Banister has someone using the name Oswald to buy the trucks.
Hoover at the FBI has a memo dated June of 1960...
...that someone...
...may be using Oswald's passport and identity.
Other witnesses see him at different firing ranges.
One time, November 9...
...he decides to practice on the next guy's target.
I didn't pay for a target just to have you shoot at it!
Hey, I'm sorry, buddy.
I thought I was shooting at that son of a bitch Kennedy.
As subtle as a cockroach crawling across a white rug.
Then he shows up at Sylvia Odio's...
...a Cuban lady in Dallas in the anti-Castro underground.
The two Cubans introduce him as Leon Oswald.
But the Warren Commission says that Sylvia...
...has bad eyesight because they have Oswald in Mexico...
...trying to get back into Cuba.
The CIA has a camera outside the Cuban Embassy.
And they say that this...
...is Oswald in Mexico.
If this is Oswald, it must be our third Oswald.
The Warren Commission made great efforts to make him a Communist.
I think the point of the Mexican episode was to lay the blame on Fidel Castro.
If Oswald, or someone purporting to be Oswald...
...had gotten into Cuba, come back, and then killed the President...
...the American public would've supported a Cuban invasion.
I even have doubts about this photo, Boss.
This convicted Oswald in the public's mind.
But Oswald told Capt. Fritz that the photo was a fake.
This is not me!
-That came from Janet Williams' garage. -I never saw this picture.
It's my face but it's superimposed. The rest is not me.
I know photographic work. That picture was made by someone else!
I took this picture to two experts.
Look at how the shadows on the nose...
...fall in a straight line, like it's high noon.
But the shadow on the ground reads more like late afternoon or early morning.
It's not the same time.
And see the crop marks across the chin?
This head is pasted onto another body.
Implicating him with the rifle and the gun.
Who the hell are you? Alex Hidell or Lee Oswald?
You're the policeman, you work it out.
They created Oswald from day one.
Like a dummy corporation in the Bahamas. Just move him around a board.
Anybody want to quit?
Dumb question. Put your hands down.
I found Clay Bertrand.
Grab your socks and hose and pull.
Clay Bertrand is Clay Shaw.
-Director of the Trade Mart? -Former director.
Incredible.
Can you get some sworn statements?
That'll be tough. Nobody's talking.
Let's have him in for a chat.
I hate to get him dragged into this.
He's done so much for the city, restoring the Quarter.
Remember, we saw him at a fund-raiser. Seems like such a nice man.
It'll be off the record. I'll bring him in on a Sunday.
A quiet little chat between gentlemen.
In heavy fighting in Vietnam today...
...seven more American soldiers died and 23 were wounded.
The body count for this week now stands at 67 Americans...
...and 626 enemy soldiers killed in action.
President Johnson said he regretted there's no end in sight to the war...
...where 500,000 US troops are now fighting.
We face more cost...
...more loss...
...and more agony.
Come hunt for Easter eggs.
That's the kids' job. You know I don't like these tribal rituals, anyway.
I'm talking to Clay Shaw this morning.
We're going to Antoine's with the kids!
I told you I was talking to Shaw.
In the middle of Easter Sunday?
When I scheduled it, I didn't know it was a holiday.
Look at the calendar!
You said a Sunday, not Easter Sunday.
Clay Shaw is important.
-And we're not. -I didn't say that.
I didn't say that.
You're missing most of your life and you don't know it.
The kids are missing out, too.
-You're not the only one making sacrifices. -I'll be there by 2:00, I promise.
Just start without me.
Mr. Garrison, what can I do for you on Easter Sunday?
I'm sorry to interrupt this holiday.
But this conversation is best kept out of the everyday bustle of this office.
I don't understand.
In an investigation we're conducting, your name keeps coming up.
Can't imagine where.
We've talked to a number of men who claim to know you.
Do you know a David Logan?
No. Never heard of him.
Perry Russo?
No.
Willie O'Keefe?
I don't know anyone by that name.
Mr. O'Keefe told us he met you at the Masquerade Bar in the Quarter.
Then you had him over for dinner at your apartment on Dauphine Street.
-Do you recall that? -I don't know this man.
Be still my heart.
Obviously, I wouldn't have him over.
Hope you like squab.
Champagne?
Perhaps a few more details about the evening will refresh your memory.
Mr. O'Keefe told us dinner was served by a uniformed waiter, a colored man.
You sat at one end and he at the other, which he found unusual...
...because the table was so long.
How was your mousse?
Bring back memories of Willie O'Keefe?
Not at all.
But I do have...
...a lovely Chippendale dining table.
I often have a friend sit at one end while I sit at the other.
It's precisely the point of a long dining table.
The splendor of the meal adds to its enjoyment.
I imagine a uniformed waiter helps.
It adds elegance, for which I confess...
...a weakness now and then.
I call him Smedley.
His real name's Frankie Jenkins, but it would be so uncouth during dinner...
...to turn toward the kitchen and holler...
..."Frankie!"
Where is all this leading to?
After dinner, you paid him to have sex.
That is absolute nonsense.
The Quarter is filled with vivid imaginations, dear Mr. Garrison.
Grimy young hoodlums who will say and do anything!
Mr. O'Keefe told us...
...David Ferrie came to the house with another young man.
-Who? -David Ferrie.
I don't know that name.
Never having met Mr. O'Keefe, I couldn't have met Mr. Ferrie.
You're mine, Mary.
The four of you partied early into the morning hours.
Look at this picture.
I've never met anyone of such bizarre appearance.
Only way you get this, you do exactly what I say. I'm the man.
You know the name Clay Bertrand?
Clay Bertrand.
A man with a similar name worked at the Chamber of Commerce.
-That the man you had in mind? -No, it was not.
Can you identify this man?
Naturally. You claim Mr. Oswald also had dinner with me?
Have you ever met Lee Harvey Oswald?
You have me consorting with a sordid cast of characters.
-Please answer the question. -'Course not.
The assassination was such a pity. In fact...
...I admired Kennedy. Man of true panache.
Wife of impeccable taste.
Let's order without your daddy. He won't mind.
I want a Shirley Temple!
Kids, put your water guns away.
When's Daddy coming?
He's coming soon.
He's sorry he's late, but he promised he'd be here.
Daddy never keeps his promises.
This ltalian newspaper article says...
...you were a board member of Centro Mondo Commerciale in ltaly.
This company was created by the CIA for the transfer of funds in ltaly...
...for illegal political-espionage activities.
Says that this company was expelled from ltaly for those activities.
I'm well aware of that asinine article.
I'm thinking of suing that rag.
It also says this company is linked to the Schlumberger Tool Company...
...in Louisiana, which provided arms to David Ferrie and his Cubans.
You're reaching.
Am I?
I'm an international businessman. The Trade Mart I founded...
...is America's commercial pipeline to Latin America. I trade everywhere.
Like all businessmen, I am accused of all things.
I go about my business, make money, help society the best I can...
...and try to promote free trade in this world.
Have you ever been a contract agent for the CIA?
And if I were...
...do you believe I would be here today...
...talking to somebody like you?
-People like you don't have to. -May I go?
People like you walk between the raindrops.
May I go?
Yes.
Regardless of what you may think of me, I am a patriot first and foremost.
I've spent half my life in the military...
...defending my country.
You're the first person I've met who considers it patriotic to kill the President.
You are way out of line.
It's getting late. That's all the questions we have.
Thank you for your honesty and for coming in.
I enjoyed meeting with you.
And you, Miss Cox. It's been most pleasant.
I extend to you and your families my best wishes for a happy Easter.
"One may smile, and smile and be a villain."
Goddamn it! We've got one of them.
See that?
-Hi, honey. -Hi.
Tough day.
Where you been?
My sympathies.
I'm sorry, the meeting took much longer than expected.
Just a second.
We waited for hours, Jim!
You could've telephoned.
I can only say I'm sorry. I just don't have rabbits on my mind.
You know what I think?
You care more about John Kennedy than your own family.
All day the kids asked, "Where's Daddy?" What should I tell them?
I don't know!
The truth! I'm doing my job to make sure they grow up...
...in a country where justice won't be a vanished idea in history books...
...like dinosaurs or Atlantis.
It doesn't replace a husband or a father on Easter Sunday.
It's going to get worse!
I beat you again, you must give me a raise.
Who can you brag to?
Who killed President Kennedy? Was there a conspiracy here?
I don't know what you're talking about.
Clear the door! Watch out! Move!
Congratulations. You're Page One.
Ain't pretty. It says...
...we've spent over $8,000 on unexplained investigative expenses...
...since November, 1966.
Goddamn!
Shaw got them on our tail.
...has raised some interesting questions.
With taxpayer money, has he uncovered valuable new evidence?
Or is he merely saving the information to gain exposure at a national level?
Mr. Garrison should have some explanation.
Did your office plant that garbage in the paper?
-Who is this? -You know damn well.
-Dave? -You got it. Listen.
You're the only straight-shooter there.
I want an answer! Did you plant it?
Do you think we're nuts? It's been a zoo since that broke.
Reporters everywhere. Do you think we want that?
Somebody planted that fucking story!
I'm one of fucking Garrison's suspects. I can't go home!
The maggots are everywhere! Do you know what you've done to me?
Calm down.
From here on...
...l'm a fucking dead man!
You weren't even mentioned in the story.
Meet me in the lobby of the Fontainebleau in 20 minutes.
I guarantee the boss will protect you. He likes you. He likes your mind.
I just don't know who to trust anymore.
I suppose I could use a pot of hot coffee and a few packs of Luckys.
Anything new?
Who are you scared of?
Everybody. The Agency, mob, Cubans.
Follow the Cubans.
Check them out. Here. In Miami. Dallas.
Check out Eladio del Valle.
He was my paymaster when I flew missions into Cuba.
You're on the right track. Don't write this down!
I ain't cooperating with no one!
There's a death warrant for me! Don't you get it?
Damn! Wait a minute!
You ain't bugged, are you? Son of a bitch, Lou!
Are you?
I play square. No bugs.
I'd love you to go on the record, but I'm in no hurry.
I haven't slept since that article.
-Why'd you get me involved? -Did we involve you? Or did Shaw?
Cocksucking faggot. He got me by the balls.
-What do you mean? -Photographs, compromising stuff.
He'll use them, too.
Agency plays for keeps.
Oswald was in my Civil Air Patrol unit. I taught him everything.
He was a wannabe. No one liked him. Thought he was a snitch.
But I treated him good.
He wanted his kid to grow up with a chance.
What's this? What's going on?
Don't let him in.
No one's coming in here.
Black. Give it to me.
Black. My neck is killing me.
I've had cancer for years. Been working with mice to find a cure.
Did you work for the CIA?
You sound like it's a remote experience in ancient history.
You don't leave the Agency.
-Once you're in, they got you for life. -And Shaw?
Shaw's an untouchable. Highest clearance.
Shaw, Oswald, the Cubans, all Agency.
Ruby?
Jack was a pimp. A bagman for the Dallas mob.
Ran guns to Castro when he was on our side.
Castro was almost with us till we tried to whack him.
Everybody keeps flipping sides.
It's fun and games.
-How do the mob figure in this? -They're Agency too.
The CIA and the Mafia worked together for years trying to whack out the beard.
There's more to this than you could dream!
Check out something called "Operation Mongoose."
Government, Pentagon stuff. They're in charge.
But who pulls whose chain? Who knows?
"Oh, what a deadly web we weave when we practice to deceive."
Who killed the President?
Why don't you fucking stop it? Shit!
This is too big for you, you know that?
Who did the President? Fuck! It's a mystery.
It's a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma!
The shooters don't even know! Don't you get it?
Fuck, man! I can't keep talking like this!
They'll fucking kill me!
I'll fucking die!
Son of a bitch!
It's all right.
I don't know what happened.
Fuck!
All I wanted in the world...
...was to be a Catholic priest.
Live in a monastery.
Pray. Serve God.
I had...
...one terrible fucking weakness.
And they defrocked me!
Then I started to lose everything.
You'll be okay, Dave.
Just talk to us on the record. We'll protect you.
They'll get to you too.
They'll destroy you.
They're untouchable.
I'm so fucking exhausted, I can't see straight.
Early for Mardi Gras, isn't it?
Paris Match, the largest magazine in France.
Literaturnaya Gazeta from Moscow.
Victoria Taylor, Private Eye.
You know who shot the President? Mr. Garrison is too busy....
They're putting the heat on David Ferrie.
If we wait, he won't hold on.
He keeps changing his story. We can't call him to a grand jury.
He'll keep deteriorating. We'll get more out of him when he cracks.
If we call him in now he might freeze up, we'll lose our best shot.
He can't go down any further. We must protect him full time.
I know what you're going through with Ferrie.
We'll talk tomorrow. I have to catch a plane to Washington.
A lead says he's closely connected to these events...
...but he won't come here.
I'm onto Ferrie's Cuban paymaster, Eladio del Valle.
I need more men. I got to get him in.
I can't pull the teams to watch Ferrie. I promised him!
This is our case!
I got something to show you.
I think you'll find it interesting.
This was found in your office.
The conference room is bugged, maybe the phones. We have to debug the place.
Bugging the DA's office. This is outrageous!
Believe what you want, but we must be more careful.
All these new volunteers!
You handle it, okay? I don't have time for this nonsense.
Well, we obviously got the bastards worried now.
I'm coming to Washington!
Dave Ferrie's dead.
Found his body in his apartment two hours ago.
What's it look like?
I don't see any violence. Heart attack, maybe an aneurysm. Natural causes.
This is addressed to no one and no signature.
"To leave this life is for me a sweet prospect.
"I find nothing in it that is desirable...
"...and, on the other hand, everything that is loathsome."
It goes on and on.
"Daily we are propagandized more and more by the rising crime wave."
Seems pretty flowery for Dave Ferrie.
Proloid.
I took it once for a low thyroid condition.
It raises the metabolism.
Ferrie strike you as the kind of person with a low metabolism?
Hardly, I'd say the opposite. Maybe hypertension.
Ferrie was the only one to express any kind of remorse about the whole thing.
I think it got him killed.
More bad news from Miami.
Ferrie's friend, Eladio del Valle, was found...
...hacked to death with a machete in his car.
He was tortured, shot point-blank in the heart, his skull split open with an ax.
Ain't that the devil's piss!
Found another note. Same thing. No name. No signature.
"When you receive this, I'll be quite dead, so no answer is possible.
-"I offered you love, I got kicked." -Must've pressed to come up with that.
What if a man with hypertension were to take an entire bottle of Proloid?
He'd die quickly. A heart storm or a ruptured blood vessel in the brain.
Can you ascertain if there's Proloid in his system?
Not with a routine autopsy.
But there may be a high level of iodine in the spinal fluid.
But it's difficult to know. What're you thinking?
It doesn't make sense. Would a man afraid of dying...
...kill himself in a way that leaves no trace?
And leave two unsigned suicide notes?
If it's a suicide, I've seen weirder.
The fact is, he's gone. And so is our case.
Unless we go for Shaw now.
With whose testimony? O'Keefe, a male prostitute?
Jack Martin, a drunk? Vernon Bundy, a dope fiend?
Shaw's got respect. Newspaper editors, American Bar Association.
-I agree. We don't have the goods. -We wait, Shaw will get whacked!
How many corpses do you need to figure out what's going on?
Watch your mouth! Ferrie did this himself.
Where're you going?
I don't know.
I just don't know.
Frank, you're wasting your time here.
Big Jim gave strict orders. No FBI.
It's you I want to talk to.
Boss'd fry me in hog fat if he knew I talked to you.
Boss's got a problem. Real serious.
We know what's going on at your office.
I guess you do.
You got nothing. I'm a friend. You're riding on the Titanic.
Time to jump off before you get destroyed, too.
Enough!
We're talking about your career. You're young.
You're working on the Castro thing.
-No, I'm not. -You are.
We know Oswald didn't pull that trigger. Castro did.
If it comes out, there'll be a war.
Millions of people will die. That's more important than Jim Garrison.
Look at me when I talk to you! You're too selfish!
Shut up!
If you got a brain in your thick skull, listen to me. Listen real hard.
Get in the car.
Garrison?
Yes.
Glad you came.
Sorry about the precautions.
I just hope it was worth my while, Mr...?
I could give you a false name, but I won't. Call me "X."
I've already been warned by the Agency, so, if this is another threat--
I'm not with the Agency, Mr. Garrison.
If you've come this far, what I have to say interests you.
I won't name names or tell you who or what I represent.
Except to say you're close.
Closer than you think.
Everything I'll say is classified top secret.
I was a soldier, Mr. Garrison. Two wars.
A secret Pentagon guy, supplying the hardware:
Planes, bullets, rifles...
...for what we call "Black Operations."
Black Ops. Assassinations. Coups d'état...
...rigging elections, propaganda, psych warfare.
In World War Il, I was in Rumania, Greece, Yugoslavia.
I helped evacuate part of Nazi intelligence at the end of the war.
And we used those guys against the Communists.
In ltaly, '48, we stole the elections.
France '49, we broke the strikes.
Overthrew Quirino in the Philippines, Arbenz in Guatemala...
...Mossadegh in Iran. We were in Vietnam in '54...
...Indonesia, '58, Tibet, '59.
Got the Dalai Lama out. We were good.
Very good.
Then we got into the Cuban thing. Not so good.
Set up an invasion to take place in October, '62.
Khrushchev sent missiles to resist. Kennedy didn't invade.
We just had our dicks in the wind.
A lot of pissed-off people, Mr. Garrison.
Understand?
I'll come to that later.
So, 1963....
I spent much of September of '63...
...working on the Kennedy plan to get all US personnel...
...out of Vietnam by the end of 1965.
One of the strongest plans issued by the Kennedy White House...
...National Security Memo 263...
...ordered home the first 1,000 troops.
But in November, a week after the murder of Vietnamese President Diem...
...and two weeks before Kennedy's assassination...
...a strange thing happened to me.
Is Dave in there?
You wanted to see me, General?
I do, indeed.
You're going to the South Pole.
I am?
Dr. Mooney's got the details.
Check with him. Have a nice vacation.
I was sent by my superior, we'll call him "Y"...
...I was sent by General Y to the South Pole...
...as military escort for a group of international VIPs.
I was on my way back, in New Zealand...
...when the President was killed.
Oswald was charged at 7:00 p.m., Dallas time...
...with Tippet's murder.
That's 2:00 p.m. the next day in New Zealand.
But already their papers had the entire history...
...of this unknown, 24-year-old Oswald.
Studio picture, detailed biography, Russian information...
...and were sure that he killed the President alone...
...although it took them four more hours to charge him with that crime in Dallas.
It felt to me as if...
...a cover story was being put out.
Like we would in a Black Op.
After I came back...
...I asked myself, why was l, the chief of Special Ops...
...sent to the South Pole to do a job...
...many others could have done?
I wondered if it could've been because...
...one of my routine duties, if I'd been in Washington...
...would've been to order additional security in Texas.
I checked it out and found that someone...
...told the 112th Military Intelligence Group at Fort Sam Houston...
...to stand down that day, over the protests of Colonel Reich.
I believe it's a mistake.
It's standard procedure, especially in a known hostile city like Dallas...
...to supplement the Secret Service.
Even if we hadn't let him ride with the bubble-top off...
...we would've put 100 to 200 agents on the sidewalk without question.
A month before, in Dallas, UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson was spit on and hit.
There had been attempts on De Gaulle's life in France.
We'd have arrived days ahead, studied the route...
...checked all the buildings.
Never would've allowed open windows overlooking Dealey. Never!
Our own snipers would've covered the area.
If a window went up, they'd have been on the radio!
We'd be watching the crowd: packages, rolled-up newspapers, coats.
Never would've let a man open an umbrella.
Never would've let the car slow down to ten miles an hour.
Or take that unusual curve at Houston and Elm.
You'd have felt an Army presence in the streets that day.
But none of this happened. It violated our most basic protection codes.
And it is the best indication of a massive plot in Dallas.
Who could have best done this?
Black Ops. People in my business.
My superior could've called Col. Reich and said:
"We have another unit coming for security. You'll stand down."
That day, some Army Intelligence people were in Dallas.
I don't know who or why.
But they weren't protecting clients.
And Oswald. Army Intell had a Lee Harvey Oswald on file.
Those files have been destroyed.
Many strange things were happening.
Oswald had nothing to do with them.
The entire Cabinet was in the Far East.
A third of a combat division was returning from Germany...
...in the air above the United States, at the time of the shooting.
At 12:34 p.m., the Washington telephone system went out for an hour.
On the plane back to Washington...
...word was radioed from the Situations Room...
...to Johnson that there was only one assassin.
Sound like coincidences to you?
Not for one moment.
The Cabinet was out of the way.
Troops for riot control were in the air.
Telephones were out to stop the wrong stories from spreading.
Nothing was left to chance.
He could not be allowed to escape alive.
Things were never the same after that.
Vietnam started for real. There was an air of...
...make-believe in the Pentagon and CIA.
Those of us in Secret Ops knew the Warren Commission was fiction.
But there was something...
...deeper.
Uglier.
I knew Allen Dulles well. I often briefed him in his house.
But why was he appointed to investigate Kennedy's death? The man who fired him.
Dulles, by the way, was General Y's benefactor.
I got out in '64.
Resigned my commission.
I never realized Kennedy was so dangerous to the establishment.
Is that why?
That's the real question, isn't it? Why?
The how and the who is just scenery for the public.
Oswald, Ruby, Cuba, the Mafia...
...keeps them guessing, like a game.
Prevents them from asking the most important question: why?
Why was Kennedy killed? Who benefited?
Who has the power to cover it up? Who?
In 1961...
...right after the Bay of Pigs, very few people know this...
...I participated in drawing up National Security Action Memos 55, 56, 57.
These are documents classified top secret.
In them, Kennedy told Gen. Lemnitzer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs...
...that from here on, the Joint Chiefs would be wholly responsible...
...for all covert paramilitary action in peacetime.
This ended the reign of the CIA.
Splintered it into 1,000 pieces, as JFK promised he would.
And now he was ordering the military...
...to help him do it. Unprecedented!
I can't tell you the shock waves this sent along the corridors of power.
This and the firing of Allen Dulles...
...Richard Bissell and Gen. Charles Cabell.
All were sacred cows in Intell since World War II.
They got some very upset people.
Kennedy's directives weren't implemented because of...
...bureaucratic resistance.
But one of the results was...
...the Cuban operation was turned over to my department...
...as Operation Mongoose.
Mongoose was pure Black Ops.
It was secretly based at Miami University...
...which has the largest domestic CIA station...
...budgeted annually for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Three hundred agents, 7,000 select Cubans.
Fifty fake business fronts to launder money.
They waged a non-stop war against Castro.
Industrial sabotage, crop burning, etc.
All under the control of General Y.
He took the rules of covert warfare he'd used abroad...
...and brought them to this country.
Now he had the people, the equipment, the bases...
...and the motivation.
Don't underestimate the budget cuts that Kennedy called for in March of 1963.
Nearly 52 military installations in 25 states.
Twenty-one overseas bases.
Big money.
You know how many helicopters have been lost in Vietnam?
Nearly 3,000 so far.
Who makes them? Bell Helicopter. Who owns Bell?
Bell was nearly bankrupt when First National Bank of Boston asked the CIA...
...to use the helicopter in Indochina. How about the F-111 fighter?
General Dynamics of Fort Worth, Texas. Who owns that?
Find out the defense budget since the war began. $75 going on $100 billion.
Nearly $200 billion will be spent before it's over.
In 1949, it was $10 billion.
No war...no money.
The organizing principle of any society, Mr. Garrison...
...is for war.
The authority of the state over its people resides in its war powers.
Kennedy wanted to end the Cold War in his second term.
He wanted to call off the moon race and cooperate with the Soviets.
He signed a treaty to ban nuclear testing.
He refused to invade Cuba in 1962.
He set out to withdraw from Vietnam.
But all that ended on the 22nd of November, 1963.
Since 1961, they knew Kennedy was not going to war in Southeast Asia.
Like Caesar, he is surrounded by enemies.
Something's underway, but it has no face. Yet, everybody in the loop knows.
Forget about combat troops.
He told McNamara he would pull out the goddamn advisors!
He fucked us in Laos and now he will fuck us in Vietnam!
He can't afford to implement it before the election.
I hear the NSC meeting was a real barn burner.
I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Heads will roll. Hear about Lemnitzer?
What?
Kennedy rubbed Lem's nose in shit.
Said if we didn't go into Cuba, which was so close...
...why go into Vietnam which is so far away?
There he goes again.
Got his hand on the chicken switch.
Lem said that the Chiefs still think we should go into Cuba.
Money's at stake.
Big money. $100 billion.
Kennedy bred voting districts for defense dollars.
He gave TFX fighter contracts only to those counties that will matter in '64.
The people in the loop fight back. Their way.
We have to control the intelligence from Saigon.
We just don't let McNamara stick his nose in this thing!
Every time he goes over to Saigon for a fact-finding mission...
...he comes back and scares the shit out of Kennedy!
Now I want Max Taylor on him night and day...
...like a fly on shit.
You control McNamara, you control Kennedy.
I think it started like that.
In the wind.
Defense contractors, oil bankers. Just conversation.
A call is made. Maybe to someone like my superior officer General Y.
We're going. We need your help.
When?
In the fall. Probably in the South.
-We want you to come up with a plan. -I can do that.
Everything is cellularized.
No one said, "He must die." No vote. Nothing's on paper.
There's no one to blame.
It's as old as the crucifixion.
Or the military firing squad.
Five bullets, one blank. No one's guilty.
Everybody in the power structure...
...has a plausible deniability.
No compromising connections except at the most secret point.
But it must succeed.
No matter how many die or how much it costs...
...the perpetrators must be on the winning side...
...and never subject to prosecution for anything by anyone.
That is a coup d'état.
Kennedy announces the Texas trip in September.
At that moment, second Oswalds pop up all over Dallas...
...where they have the mayor and the cops in their pocket.
General Y flies in the assassins.
Maybe from the special camp we keep near Athens, Greece.
Pros.
They'd be locals, Cubans, Mafia hire. Separate teams.
Does it matter who shot...
...from what rooftop?
Part of the scenery.
I keep thinking about that Tuesday...
...the 26th of November.
The day after they buried Kennedy.
Gentlemen, I am not going to let Vietnam go like China did.
I'm committed...
...not to take our soldiers out of there till they know we mean business in Asia.
Lyndon Johnson signs National Security Memo 273...
...which reverses Kennedy's withdrawal policy...
...and approves covert action against North Vietnam...
...provoking the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
Just get me elected, I'll give you the damn war.
In that document...
...lay the Vietnam War.
I can't believe they killed him because he wanted to change things.
-ln our time, in our country! -They've done it throughout history.
Kings are killed. Politics is power, nothing more!
Don't take my word for it. Do your own thinking.
The size of this is...
...beyond me.
Testify.
-Me? -Testify.
No chance in hell.
No, I'd be arrested and gagged. Maybe sent to an institution.
Maybe worse. You too.
I can give you the background. You find the foreground, the little things.
Dig, you're the only one to bring a trial in Kennedy's murder.
That's important. It's historic.
I haven't yet.
I don't have much of a case.
You don't have a choice anymore.
You're a significant threat to the national security structure.
They'd have killed you already, but there's light on you.
So they'll destroy your credibility.
They already have in many circles.
Be honest.
Your only chance is to come up with a case. Something. Anything.
Make arrests. Stir the shitstorm.
Hope to start...
...a chain reaction of people coming forward.
Then the government will crack.
Fundamentally, people are suckers for the truth.
And the truth is on your side, bubba.
I just hope you get a break.
Mr. Shaw?
You are under arrest for conspiracy...
...and entering into agreement with others for the purpose of murdering...
...President John F. Kennedy.
We have a warrant to search the premises.
It's my duty to inform you...
...you have the right to remain silent.
Name?
Clay LaVerne Shaw.
Address?
1313 Dauphine Street, New Orleans.
Ever use any aliases?
Clay Bertrand.
Mr. Clark, are you aware of the charges filed by District Attorney Garrison?
Yes, Mr. Shaw was included in our investigation.
No connection was found at all.
If the FBI did investigate him, why is his name not mentioned...
...in the entire 26 volumes of the Warren Report...
...even if it is to clear his name?
I doubt this Attorney General would qualify for my staff.
Mr. Garrison has presented absolutely nothing publicly...
...which would contradict our findings.
I know of no fact which would refute...
...the Commission's conclusion...
...that Lee Oswald was the lone killer.
I congratulate Mr. Shaw. Most defendants must wait for trial...
...before they produce sacred cows like a Chief Justice...
...as a character witness...
...who is not under oath and therefore free from perjury.
Even if it's partly true...
...you realize you're damaging the credibility of the country?
Is a government worth preserving when it lies to the people?
It's become a dangerous country...
...when you cannot trust anyone. When you cannot tell the truth.
I say let justice be done, though the heavens fall!
The JFK Conspiracy: The Case of Jim Garrison.
-Honey, this is about you. -After an investigation in New Orleans...
...reporters have learned...
...that District Attorney Jim Garrison and his staff...
...have intimidated, bribed and even drugged witnesses...
...to attempt to prove a conspiracy involving businessman Clay Shaw...
...in the murder of John F. Kennedy.
John Chancler was a cellmate of Willie O'Keefe's at Angola.
He said he'd be cut loose if he copped to the DA's office.
I sent him up for burglary.
And there's his old buddy Miguel Torres.
We sent him up too.
They wanted me to say Shaw was Bertrand. They'd get me a pardon.
Janet Williams comments on Willie O'Keefe's...
...descriptions of having met Oswald.
Was he a homosexual?
Not the Lee I knew. Absolutely not.
Mr. O'Keefe must have seen someone he thought was Lee Oswald.
I didn't talk to nobody. I was on drugs at the hospital.
I told the FBI that call was a figment of my imagination.
I think he's quite ill, mentally.
With one half of his mind, he is able to fabricate evidence...
...then he convinces the other half that the fabrication is the truth.
Don't worry. There's only 20 or 30 million people watching this tonight.
My reputation's all right with the people watching Laugh In.
Has he ignored the Mafia connections to this conspiracy...
...because he's indebted to the mob?
The more one looks at Jim Garrison, the more one finds...
...he has destroyed reputations, spread fear and suspicion, and worst of all...
...exploited this nation's sorrow and doubt.
Jim Garrison has said:
"Let justice be done, though the heavens fall."
He seeks the truth. So do we.
Dr. Martin Luther King's beautiful dream expressed so dramatically...
...during the 1963 march on Washington...
...was shattered tonight in Memphis, Tennessee by an assassin's bullet.
Police think the single shot came from across the street.
They found a Browning automatic rifle, fitted with a marksman's scope.
I'll get it.
Hello, is this Jim Garrison's daughter?
Virginia or Elizabeth?
Virginia, you're a lucky little girl.
Your daddy's entered you in a beauty contest. Like to be in one?
I don't know.
My God! What have they done?
It's lynching time.
That sounds fun.
You get out of school at 3:00?
Who are you talking to?
That's all I need to know.
Mommy, I'm going to be in a beauty contest.
Who is this? Who is this?
Did you enter Virginia in a beauty contest?
A man called and asked her height, her weight--
Some crackpot. Martin Luther King was killed.
Her life's been threatened!
A crank making calls. Happens a dozen times a day at the office.
Our home! A kidnapper, a murderer!
Only cowards make crank calls.
Nothing will happen.
You don't know what goes on here anymore! You're busy making speeches!
Getting every crazed Klansman after us!
I'm taking the kids and I'm leaving! I can't stand it anymore!
-The government wants us scared. -You and your government!
They want everybody too scared to speak out. They count on it.
-There's nothing to fear! -Don't you have feelings?
Your own daughter!
What kind of a man are you?
I'll take them to my mother's. You spend a week.
I'll change the locks, the phones. I'll get a bodyguard.
Get a hold of yourself!
Before this Kennedy thing, your children mattered most.
The other night you didn't even notice Jasper.
He came to me bawling his eyes out.
I promise I'll make more time for Jasper.
Is it such a chore?
Goddamn it! If I said I'll spend more time with him, I will!
I cannot fight you and the whole world too!
I'm not fighting you! I'm trying to reach you.
-You've changed. -Of course I've changed!
My eyes have opened.
And what once looked normal seems insane.
And now King. Don't you think this has something to do with that?
Can't you see?
I don't want to see, goddamn it! I'm tired. I've had enough!
You're ruining this man Shaw's life because he's a homosexual.
That's not why!
Did you ever once stop to consider his feelings?
You don't believe me?
-I don't know! -You never believed me?
I just want to raise our children and live a normal life.
I want my life back!
So do l, goddamn it!
I had a life too, you know!
You can't bury your head in the sand like an ostrich, Liz!
It's not about our well-being, our two cars, our TVs and your kitchen!
It's about our kids growing up in a shithole of lies. I'm angry!
My life is fucked because of it.
If you could see it that way, you'd see your life is fucked too.
You never talked to me this way.
If you don't want to support me, fine.
But don't make threats about taking the children.
I'm leaving you!
-I'm taking the children! -Go on! Get out!
-I am! -Go hide!
Join the rest! They'll say I'm crazy.
Plenty of people will tell you I'm crazy.
You won't have any problems filling out divorce papers.
But somebody's got to try, goddamn it!
Somebody!
Are we going away, Daddy?
I don't know, Jasper.
Because of Kennedy?
Will the same people kill us, Papa?
Nobody will kill us.
I'm scared.
I don't like it when you and Mommy fight.
I don't like it either, honey.
Why do we have to leave?
Don't you love us anymore?
Daddy loves you both.
There's nothing wrong with feeling a little scared, Jasper.
Telling the truth can be a scary thing sometimes.
It scared President Kennedy, and he was a brave man.
But if you let yourself be too scared...
...then you let the bad guys take over the country.
Then everybody gets scared.
Stay with Mom, Papa.
Please.
Here's another.
The US Attorney in Washington declines to serve our subpoena...
...on Allen Dulles, Charles Cabell, CIA Director Richard Helms, any FBI agent.
What'd you expect from a pig but a grunt?
Now it'll be near impossible to prove Shaw's connection to the CIA.
What's going on?
We've never been refused an extradition request.
Let's get Julia Ann Mercer in here.
No, she could get hurt.
Look what's happening to other people.
She's the best witness we have.
I just don't want to do it. Now, what else?
You got your hate mail here. And your fan mail here.
The bad news is that the IRS requested an audit of your income from this office.
I expected that two months ago. They're wasting their time.
The bad news is the National Guard just asked me to resign after 18 years.
Maybe that's the good news. Never was as good as combat.
But this is.
What else?
Oswald went to see the FBI two weeks...
...before the assassination.
May I see Special Agent Hosty?
He's not in. Can someone else help you?
Special Agent Hosty made three visits to Janet Williams' house...
...to keep an eye on Marina. He left a note.
Hosty told a newspaperman it was a warning...
...to stop questioning Marina when Oswald was not present.
She was not a citizen, so possibly he was threatening to deport her to Russia.
But what the note really said, no one knows.
Hosty tore it up and flushed it down the toilet.
This is just speculation.
But what if the note described the assassination attempt on JFK?
Come on, think!
That's the only reason to destroy it.
If it was a threat like Hosty said, they would have kept it.
It makes their case against the angry, lone nut that much stronger.
Remember the meeting with Agent Quigley...
...the day he was arrested?
Quigley destroyed the notes from the interview.
We can raise the possibility that Oswald was not only an informant...
...but he may have been the original source for the telex dated November 17...
...warning of Kennedy's assassination in Dallas on November 22.
William Walters, the FBI night clerk, gave me a copy.
It went all over the country. Nothing was done.
The motorcade went ahead on schedule. The Warren Report didn't mention it.
"A militant group may attempt to assassinate President Kennedy...
"...on his proposed trip to Dallas, Texas."
Shortly after the assassination...
...Walters says the telex was removed from all the files...
...as an obvious embarrassment to the Bureau.
I believe Oswald sent information through Hosty.
I have a hunch Oswald had infiltrated this group:
Cubans or right-wing extremists.
He was told to be at the Book Depository that day...
...to either prevent the assassination or take part in it.
Either they told him they'd close down the plotters...
...or simulate an attack...
...on Kennedy to whip up public opinion...
...so Kennedy would have to reverse his policies on communism.
What they told him doesn't matter.
He was under orders.
He was a foot soldier.
You can't miss. He is a dead duck.
I don't buy it.
Why would the FBI cover it up?
A telex disappears from every FBI office in this country?
There's a word, Bill.
-Orders. -Or a cover-up.
Don't you have enough proof of the FBI's complicity yet?
I respect this country's institutions!
How the hell can you keep a conspiracy going...
...between the mob, CIA, FBl, Army Intelligence and who knows what else...
...when you can't keep a secret in this room between 12 people?
I mean, we got leaks everywhere.
We are going to trial, y'all!
What the hell do we really got?
Oswald, Ruby, Banister and Ferrie are dead.
Maybe Shaw is an agent. I don't know.
But as a covert operator...
...he is wide open for blackmail because of his homosexuality.
Shaw's our toehold. I don't know or care exactly how he fits.
But he's lying through his teeth. I won't let go of him.
That's why you're going to trial against Clay Shaw?
You will lose!
We should investigate our Mafia leads here.
I can buy that easier than I can the government.
Ruby is all mob, knows Oswald, sets him up.
Hoffa, Trafficante, Marcello, they hire some guns and do Kennedy.
The government doesn't want to open up a whole can of worms...
...because it used the mob to try to get Castro.
Castro being assassinated by the mob by us...
...sounds wild to John Q. Citizen.
So they close the book on JFK.
Makes perfect sense to me.
I don't doubt their involvement at a low level.
Could the mob change the parade route?
Or eliminate the protection for the President?
Could the mob send Oswald to Russia and get him back?
Get the FBl, the CIA and the Dallas Police to mess up the investigation?
Get the Warren Commission appointed to cover it up?
Wreck the autopsy? Influence the national media to go to sleep?
Since when has the mob used anything but .38's for hits up close?
The mob wouldn't have the guts or the power for something of this magnitude.
Assassins need payrolls...
...schedules, times, orders.
This was a military-style ambush.
A coup d'état with Lyndon Johnson waiting in the wings.
You're saying Lyndon Johnson was involved? The President?
Johnson got $1 billion for his friends, Brown and Root...
...to dredge Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam.
Boss, are you calling the President a murderer?
If I'm so far from the truth, why is the FBI bugging our offices?
Why are witnesses being bought off and murdered?
Why are federal agencies blocking our extraditions and subpoenas?
I don't know.
Maybe there's some rogue element in the government.
With a full-blown cover-up?
You ever read Shakespeare?
I do.
Julius Caesar?
"Brutus and Cassius, they too are honorable men."
Who killed Caesar?
Ten or twelve Senators.
All it takes is one Judas.
A few people on the inside. Pentagon, CIA.
This is Louisiana.
How do you know who your daddy is? 'Cause your mama told you so.
You are taking a crap in the wind.
And I am not going along on this one.
I've had my doubts all along about Bill.
He's been fighting us.
We need him back.
He wasted a month trying to prove...
...that mob boys like Jack Ruby are hooked up with Hunt Oil.
-I don't trust him. -I will not hear this.
I value Bill as much as any person here.
It's time we made room for someone else's ideas, including me.
Maybe Oswald is what everyone says he is, and I'm...
...just plain dumb about it.
I've seen him copying files here late at night.
-I don't trust him. -Did you two hear me?
I won't tolerate staff infighting.
I'm afraid I cannot work with Bill Broussard anymore.
Is this an ultimatum?
Are you giving me an ultimatum?
If that's what you want to call it.
I never thought it'd come to this.
I guess I am.
I won't have any ultimatum put to me, Lou. I'll accept your resignation.
You sure got it.
You are one stubborn son of a bitch.
You're making a big mistake.
Boss, aren't you being a little hard?
No, I don't think I am.
Anyone else?
With 53% of the precincts reporting, Sen. Kennedy has a 48% to 41% lead...
...over Sen. McCarthy.
CBS News projects Sen. Robert Kennedy...
...the winner of the California primary.
Within the United States over the period of the last three years...
...the division, the violence, the disenchantment with our society...
...the divisions between blacks and whites...
...the poor and the affluent, between age groups...
...or Vietnam, we can work together.
We are a great country, an unselfish, compassionate country.
That's my basis for running.
Thank you all. It's on to Chicago and let's win there.
Senator Kennedy has been shot!
They killed him, honey.
He won...
...and they killed Robert Kennedy.
They shot him down.
Oh, my God!
Both of them?
Both brothers?
You were right.
It hasn't ended yet.
For the first time...
...I feel really scared.
I wish I could've loved you more.
Sometimes I feel like I didn't ever love you...
...or the children enough.
I'm sorry.
Please rise.
The Criminal District Court for Orleans Parish, Section H, is now in session.
Honorable Judge Edward A. Haggerty, Jr. presiding. Be seated.
That's Clay Bertrand.
That's who I saw at Ferrie's.
That's who you say you saw.
A confessed homosexual.
Convicted of pandering and soliciting.
A man who has lied about everything...
...and now wants to be taken at his word.
That man, right there. Yes, sir.
He was at the Pontchartrain wall...
...with the man who shot the President.
I remember him because of his limp.
A heroin addict injecting himself at the wall.
Barely conscious of his surroundings.
It's fair to say you could be mistaken.
Just a figment of my imagination.
The cat's stewing you, I told him.
You got the right ta-ta, but the wrong ho-ho.
Bertrand is not Shaw, scout's honor. And you can tell him I said so.
Objection, Your Honor!
Andrews has been convicted of perjury on this matter.
Exception taken. That case is on appeal.
Your Honor, we call Police Officer Aloysius Habighorst to the stand.
I must ask the jury to leave the court.
-Name? -Clay LaVerne Shaw.
Defendant didn't have his lawyer present.
It's standard booking procedure to ask an alias!
I call them as I see them!
Any aliases?
Clay Bertrand.
It's not constitutionally required that a lawyer be present!
-I'm ruling that inadmissible! -That's our case!
Then you didn't have a case.
I wouldn't believe anything Habighorst said anyway.
I can't believe you're saying this!
I am saying it. Bring in the jury.
-Oswald? -No, I did not.
-Ever call Dean Andrews? -No, I did not.
Have you ever met David Ferrie?
Wouldn't even know what he looked like if I hadn't seen pictures.
Did you ever use the alias, Clay Bertrand?
No, I did not.
Thank you, Mr. Shaw.
A very great actor has just given us a great performance.
But we are nowhere closer to the truth.
My office is charging Clay Shaw with outright perjury...
...on 15 answers he's given today, not one word being true.
You're out of order! Now, sit down!
That's the man right there.
To prove there was a conspiracy involving Clay Shaw...
...we must prove there was more than one man involved in the assassination.
To do that...
...we must look at the Zapruder film which my office subpoenaed.
The American public has not seen...
...has not seen the film. It's been locked in a vault the last five years...
...in the Time-Life Building in New York.
There's a reason for that.
Watch.
"The picture speaks 1,000 words."
The Warren Commission thought they had an open-and-shut case.
Three bullets, one assassin.
But two unpredictable things happened that day to make it virtually impossible.
One, the film shot by Abraham Zapruder while standing near the grassy knoll.
Two, the third wounded man, James Teague, nicked by a fragment...
...while standing near the triple underpass.
The time frame, 5.6 seconds, established by the Zapruder film...
...left no possibility of a fourth shot.
So the shot of fragment that left a superficial wound on Teague's cheek...
...came from one of the three bullets fired from the Depository's sixth floor.
That leaves just two bullets.
We know one was the fatal head shot that killed Kennedy.
So a single bullet remains.
A single bullet must account for the seven wounds in Kennedy and Connally.
Rather than admit to a conspiracy or investigate further...
...the Warren Commission endorsed the theory...
...put forth by an ambitious attorney, Arlen Spector.
One of the grossest lies ever forced on the American people.
It's known as the "magic bullet" theory.
The magic bullet...
...enters the President's back, headed downward at a 17-degree angle.
It then moves upwards to leave Kennedy's body from the front of his neck...
...wound #2...
...where it waits 1.6 seconds...
...presumably in midair, where it turns right, then left...
...right, then left...
...and continues into Connally's right armpit.
Wound #3.
The bullet then heads down at an angle of 27 degrees, shattering his rib...
...and exiting from the right side of his chest. Wound #4.
The bullet turns right, reentering Connally's body at his right wrist.
Wound #5.
Shattering the radius bone...
...the bullet exits Connally's wrist, wound #6...
...makes a dramatic U-turn, then buries itself in Connally's left thigh.
Wound #7, from which it later falls out...
...and is found in almost pristine condition...
...on a stretcher in a corridor of Parkland Hospital.
Some bullet.
Any combat vet can tell you, never in the history of gunfire...
...has there been a bullet this ridiculous.
The government says it can prove it with some fancy physics in a nuclear lab.
Of course they can.
Theoretical physics can prove an elephant can hang from a cliff...
...with his tail tied to a daisy.
But use your eyes, your common sense.
The Army wound ballistics experts fired some comparison bullets.
Not one of them looked anything like this.
Take a look at CE-856.
An identical bullet...
...fired through the wrist of a human cadaver...
...just one of the bones smashed by the magic bullet.
Seven wounds, gentlemen.
Tough skin...
...dense bones.
This single-bullet explanation...
...is the foundation of the Warren Commission's claim of one assassin.
And once you conclude...
...the magic bullet couldn't create all seven wounds...
...you must conclude there was a fourth shot and a second rifleman.
And if there was a second rifleman...
...then by definition there had to be a conspiracy...
...which we believe involves the accused, Clay Shaw.
Fifty-one witnesses thought they heard shots from the grassy knoll...
...which is to the right, in front of the President.
Key witnesses that day?
Charles Brehm, a combat vet.
Jean Hill and Mary Moorman.
S. M. Holland, Richard Dodd, James Simmons...
...standing on the overpass. J.C. Price...
...overlooking the plaza.
William Newman, father of two children.
He hit the deck on the north side of Elm.
Abraham Zapruder.
Each of these key witnesses has no doubt whatsoever...
...one or more shots came from behind the picket fence.
Twenty-six trained medical personnel at Parkland Hospital...
...saw the back of the President's head blasted out!
Doctor Peters.
There was a large 7-cm opening at the right occipital parietal area.
A considerable portion of the brain was missing.
A fifth or possibly a quarter of the back of the head had been blasted out...
...along with the underlying brain tissue.
When's the proper time to declare one dead?
There was also a large fragment of skull attached to a flap of the scalp.
The exit hole in the rear of his head measured about 120 mm...
...or five inches, across.
Not one of the civilian doctors who examined the President...
...regarded his throat wound as anything but an entry wound.
But then the body was illegally moved to Washington for the autopsy.
Because when a coup d'état has occurred...
...there's a big difference between an autopsy performed by civilian doctors...
...and one that is performed by military doctors under orders.
The departure of Air Force One, Friday afternoon was not so much a takeoff...
...as it was a getaway, with the newly sworn in President.
Objection!
Sustained.
On the plane, the White House Situation Room announced Oswald's guilt...
...to all passengers before any kind of investigation had begun.
The "angry lone nut" solution is beginning to take shape.
-Objection, Your Honor. -Sustained.
Please bottle the acid.
The three Bethesda doctors picked by the military left something to be desired.
None of them had experience with combat-gunfire wounds.
Through their autopsy, we've been able to justify eight wounds from two bullets.
Three to Kennedy, five to Connally.
One of them being the "magic bullet."
-FBI? -Here.
Col. Finck, are you saying someone told you not to dissect the neck?
I was told the family wanted the examination of the head.
Oh, Christ.
Looks like half his brain is gone.
-Weigh it. -653 grams.
As a pathologist, it was your obligation to explore...
...all possible causes of death.
I had the cause of death.
Your Honor, please direct the witness to answer my question.
Why did Colonel Finck not dissect the tract of the bullet wound?
I heard Dr. Humes stating....
That's enough. That's enough.
It's duly noted.
Let's check the back.
I can feel the end of the wound with my finger.
That won't be necessary.
Watch the ear!
Shot in the back. Cheap crime.
He said:
Who's in charge here?
I am.
I don't remember his name.
It was quite crowded.
And when you are called to look at the wounds of the dead President...
...you don't ask people for their names and who they are.
But you were a qualified pathologist. Was the Army General?
No.
But you took his orders.
Yes.
-So he was directing the autopsy. -No.
There were others.
There were admirals.
When you're a Lieutenant Colonel, you follow orders.
It is not our business to discuss this with anyone outside this room.
As I recall, Admiral Kenney, Navy Surgeon General...
...specifically told us not to discuss the case.
A lot of people were deciding what was private...
...none of the American people's business.
The chief pathologist, Commander Humes...
...by his own admission, voluntarily burned his autopsy notes.
President Johnson orders the blood-soaked limousine...
...filled with bullet holes and clues to be washed and rebuilt.
He sends Connally's bloody suit to the cleaners.
The Justice Department denied this office access to the autopsy photos.
When we finally get a court order to examine Kennedy's brain...
...in the hopes of finding from which direction the bullet came...
...we're told...
...by your government that the President's brain has disappeared.
That's not all that's disappeared. With it, the concept of justice.
Objection. Mr. Garrison is insulting the federal government--
Overruled!
So, what really happened that day?
Let's just for a moment speculate, shall we?
We have the epileptic seizure...
...distracting the police and allowing the shooters to get into place.
The epileptic later vanished, never checking into the hospital.
The A-team goes to the sixth floor of the Depository.
They were refurbishing the floors of the Depository that week...
...allowing unknown workmen in the building.
They move quickly into position, minutes before the shooting.
The second spotter, talking by radio to the other teams, has the best overall view.
The God spot.
B-team, one rifleman and one spotter with access to the building...
...moves into a low floor of the Dal-Tex building.
The third team, C-team, moves in behind the fence above the grassy knoll...
...where the shooter and the spotter are first seen by the late Lee Bowers.
They have the best position.
Kennedy is close and on a flat, low trajectory.
Part of this team is a coordinator...
...who flashed security credentials at people, chasing them from the area.
Probably two to three more men are in the crowd.
Ten to twelve men. Three teams. Three shooters.
The triangulation of fire Clay Shaw and David Ferrie discussed two months before.
They blocked the plaza.
They know every inch.
They've calibrated their sights. Practiced on moving targets.
They're ready.
Kennedy's motorcade makes a turn from Main onto Houston.
It's going to be a turkey shoot.
They don't shoot him on Houston...
...the easiest shot for a single shooter in the Depository.
They wait till he gets to the killing zone between three rifles.
Kennedy makes the turn from Houston onto Elm.
Slowing down to some 11 miles an hour.
The shooters across Dealey Plaza tighten, taking their aim.
Waiting for the radio to say, "Green! Green!"
Or, "Abort! Abort!"
The first shot rings out.
Sounding like a backfire, it misses the car completely.
Frame 161, Kennedy stops waving as he hears something.
Connally's head turns slightly to the right.
Frame 193, the second shot hits Kennedy in the throat from the front.
Frame 225, Kennedy emerges from behind the road sign.
He's been hit, raising his hands to his throat.
The third shot, frame 232...
...hits Kennedy in the back, pulling him downward and forward.
Connally, you will notice, shows no sign of being hit.
He is holding his Stetson, which is impossible if his wrist is shattered.
Connally is turning now.
Frame 238. The fourth shot.
It misses Kennedy and takes Connally in the back.
This is the shot that proves there were two rifles.
Connally yells, "My God! They're going to kill us all!"
Around this time, another shot misses the car completely...
...striking James Teague by the underpass.
The car brakes.
The sixth and fatal shot.
Frame 313, takes Kennedy in the head from the front.
This is the key shot.
The President going back and to his left...
...shot from the front and right.
Totally inconsistent with the shot from the Depository.
Again.
Back, and to the left.
Back, and to the left.
Back, and to the left.
So what happens then?
Pandemonium.
Let's go! We got him!
The shooters quickly disassemble their various weapons, except the Oswald rifle.
Patrolman Smith rushes to the parking lot behind the fence.
He smells gunpowder.
He produced credentials showing him to be Secret Service.
Let's see your ID. See anyone else up here?
I accepted that and let him go.
I regretted it. He looked like a mechanic.
He had on a sports shirt and pants, but he had dirty fingernails.
Afterward, it didn't ring true. But at the time...
...we were so pressed for time.
All Secret Servicemen in Dallas are accounted for.
None were on foot in Dealey Plaza before or after the shooting...
...till the Dallas Secret Service chief returned at 12:55.
The Dallas police took at least 12 people into custody.
No record of their arrest.
Men acting like hoboes were pulled off trains...
...marched through Dealey Plaza, photographed.
Yet there's no record of their arrest.
Men identifying themselves as Secret Service agents were everywhere.
But who was impersonating them?
Where was Oswald?
Around 12:15, leaving the building to see the motorcade...
...Carolyn Arnold sees Oswald in the second-floor snack room...
...where he said he went for a Coke.
He was in a booth on the right side of the room.
He was by himself as usual, appeared to be having lunch.
I didn't speak to him, but I recognized him clearly.
At the same time, Bonnie Ray Williams is supposedly eating lunch in the sixth floor.
He's there until 12:15, maybe 12:20.
He sees nobody.
Arnold Rowlands, on the street, looks up, sees two men in the sixth-floor windows...
...presumably after Williams finished his lunch and left.
John Powell, a prisoner on the sixth floor of the county jail, sees them.
Many of us saw them.
Everyone was hollering and yelling. We thought they was security guys.
If Oswald was the assassin, he was nonchalant about moving into position.
Later, he told police he was in the second-floor snack room.
Probably told to wait there by his handler for a call.
But the phone call never came.
Maximum 90 seconds after Kennedy is shot...
...Patrolman Marrion Baker sees Oswald in that second-floor lunchroom.
Is this man an employee?
Yes. The President's been shot.
The Commission would have us believe...
...that after firing three bolt-action shots in 5.6 seconds...
...Oswald then leaves three cartridges neatly side-by-side in the firing nest...
...wipes fingerprints off the rifle, stashes it on the other side of the loft...
...sprints down five flights of stairs...
...past Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles who never see him...
...then shows up, cool and calm, on the second floor in front of Patrolman Baker.
All this within a maximum of 90 seconds of the shooting.
Is this man an employee?
Yes. The President's been shot.
Is he out of breath?
According to Baker, absolutely not.
Assuming he is the sole assassin, Oswald is free to leave the building.
The longer he delays, the more chance the building will be sealed by police.
Is he guilty? Does he walk out the nearest staircase?
He buys a Coke...
...and at a slow pace, spotted by Mrs. Reid on the second floor...
...he strolls out the more distant front exit...
...where cops have gathered.
Odd, since three shots were fired from there...
...nobody seals the Depository for ten more minutes.
Oswald slips out, as do several other employees.
When he realized something had gone wrong and Kennedy had been killed...
...he knew there was a problem. Maybe even that he was the patsy.
An intuition, maybe. The President killed in spite of his warning.
The phone call that never came.
Perhaps fear now came to Oswald for the very first time.
Oswald returns to his rooming house around 1:00 p.m...
...a half hour after the assassination.
A man shot the President!
He puts on his jacket, grabs his .38 revolver...
...and leaves at 1:04.
Earlene Roberts, the housekeeper, heard two beeps on a car horn.
Two uniformed cops pulled up while Oswald was in his room.
Like it was a signal.
Officer Tippet is shot between 1:10 and 1:15, a mile away.
And though no one saw him walking...
...the government says Oswald covered that distance.
Giving the government the benefit of the doubt...
...Oswald would've had to jog a mile in six to eleven minutes...
...then commit the murder, reverse his direction...
...and walk 3/5ths of a mile to the Texas Theater...
...and arrive sometime before 1:30.
It's also a useful conclusion.
After all, why would Oswald kill Officer Tippet...
...unless he just shot the President and feared arrest?
Domingo Benevides...
...the closest witness to the shooting...
...refused to identify Oswald as the killer and was never taken to a lineup.
Acquilla Clemons...
...saw the killer and another man go off in separate directions.
Mrs. Clemons was never taken to a lineup or to the Warren Commission.
At the scene, Officer Poe marks his initials on the shells...
...to record the chain of evidence.
Those initials are not on the three cartridge cases...
...which the Warren Commission show him.
As early as 12:44, only 14 minutes after the assassination...
...the police put out a description matching Oswald's size and build.
Oswald is next seen by a shoe salesman, Johnny Brewer, on Jefferson Avenue.
Oswald is scared. He begins to realize the full implications of this thing.
He goes to the Texas Theater, possibly a prearranged meeting point.
Though he has $14 in his pocket, he doesn't buy the 75-cent ticket.
Brewer has the cashier call the police.
In response to that call...
...at least 30 officers in patrol cars descend on the movie theater.
This is the most remarkable example of police intuition...
...since the Reichstag fire.
I don't buy it!
They knew. Someone knew Oswald would be there.
Brewer leads the cops into the theater...
...and from the stage, points Oswald out.
There he is.
Sir, can I get you to stand up?
I am not resisting arrest! I am not resisting arrest!
They have their man.
It's already been decided in Washington.
When he is brought from the theater...
...a crowd is waiting to scream at him.
Lee Oswald must have felt like Joseph K. in Kafka's The Trial.
He's never given reasons for his arrest.
He doesn't know the unseen forces ranging against him.
At police headquarters, he was booked for murdering Tippet.
No legal counsel was provided.
No record made of the questioning.
When the sun rises the next morning...
...he is booked for murdering the President.
The whole country, fueled by the media, assumes he is guilty.
Under the guise of a patriotic club owner...
...out to spare Jackie Kennedy from testifying at a trial...
...Jack Ruby is let into a garage...
...by one of his inside men on the police force.
Oswald is brought out like a sacrificial lamb...
...and nicely disposed of as an enemy of the people.
Who grieves for Lee Harvey Oswald...
...buried in a cheap grave under the name Oswald?
Nobody.
False statements and press leaks about Oswald circulate the globe.
The official legend is created and the media takes it from there.
The glitter of official lies and the epic splendor of JFK's funeral...
...confuse the eye and confound the understanding.
Hitler said:
"The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it."
Lee Harvey Oswald, a crazed, lonely man who wanted attention...
...and got it by killing a President was only the first in a long line of patsies.
In later years, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King...
...men whose commitment to change and peace...
...made them dangerous to men committed to war, would follow...
...also killed by such lonely crazed men.
Men who remove all guilt by making murder a meaningless act of a loner.
We've all become Hamlets in our country, children of a slain father-leader...
...whose killers still possess the throne.
The ghost of John F. Kennedy confronts us with the secret murder...
...at the heart of the American Dream.
He forces on us the appalling questions: Of what is our Constitution made?
What are our lives worth?
What is the future of a democracy...
...where a President can be assassinated under suspicious circumstances...
...while the machinery of legal action scarcely trembles?
How many more political murders disguised as heart attacks...
...suicides, cancers, drug overdoses?
How many plane and car crashes will occur...
...before they are exposed for what they are?
"Treason doth never prosper," wrote an English poet.
"What's the reason?"
"For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
The American public has yet to see the Zapruder film.
Why?
The American public has yet to see the real X-rays and autopsy photographs.
Why?
Hundreds of documents could help prove this conspiracy.
Why are they being withheld or burned by the government?
When my office or you, the people, asked those questions, demanded evidence...
...the answer from on high has always been: national security.
What kind of national security do we have when we're robbed of our leaders?
What national security permits the removal...
...of fundamental power from the people...
...and validates the ascendancy of an invisible government in the US?
That kind of national security is...
...when it smells like it, feels like it, and looks like it...
...you call it what it is:
Fascism!
I submit to you that what took place on November 22, 1963...
...was a coup d'état.
Its most direct and tragic result...
...was the reversal of Kennedy's decision to withdraw from Vietnam.
The war is the biggest business in America...
...worth $80 billion a year.
President Kennedy was murdered by a conspiracy...
...planned at the highest levels of our government...
...carried out by fanatical and disciplined cold warriors...
...in the Pentagon and CIA's covert-operation apparatus.
Among them, Clay Shaw, here before you.
It was a public execution, and it was covered up by...
...like-minded people in the Dallas Police...
...the Secret Service, the FBl, and the White House...
...up to and including J. Edgar Hoover, and Lyndon Johnson...
...who were accomplices after the fact.
The assassination reduced the President to a transient official.
His job is to speak as often as possible of the nation's desire for peace...
...while he acts as a business agent in the Congress...
...for the military and their contractors.
Some people say I'm crazy.
Southern caricature seeking higher office.
There's a simple way to determine if I am paranoid.
Ask the two men who profited most from the assassination...
...former President Johnson and your new President, Nixon...
...to release the 51 CIA documents pertaining to Lee Oswald and Jack Ruby.
Or the secret CIA memo...
...on Oswald's activities in Russia that was destroyed while being photocopied.
These documents are yours.
The people's property. You pay for it.
But as the government sees you as children...
...who might be too disturbed to face this reality...
...or because you might lynch those involved...
...you cannot see these documents for another 75 years.
I'm in my 40's...
...so I'll have "shuffled off this mortal coil" by then.
But I'm telling my eight-year-old son to keep himself physically fit...
...so that one glorious September morning, in 2038...
...he can go to the National Archives and learn what the CIA and FBI knew.
They may push it back then.
It may become a generational affair. Questions passed from parent to child.
But someday, somewhere, someone may find out the damn truth.
We better.
Or we might just as well build ourselves another government...
...like the Declaration of Independence says to, when the old one don't work.
Just a bit farther out West.
An American naturalist wrote:
"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country...
"...against its government."
I'd hate to be in your shoes today.
You have a lot to think about. You've seen evidence the public hasn't seen.
Going back to when we were children...
...I think most of us in this courtroom...
...thought justice came automatically.
That virtue was its own reward.
That good triumphs over evil.
But as we get older we know this isn't true.
Individual human beings have to create justice, and this is not easy...
...because the truth often poses a threat to power...
...and one often has to fight power at great risk to themselves.
People like S.M. Holland...
...Lee Bowers...
...Jean Hill, Willie O'Keefe...
...have all taken that risk and they've all come forward.
I have here some $8,000 in these letters...
...sent from all over the country.
Quarters, dimes, dollars from housewives...
...plumbers, car salesmen, teachers, invalids.
These are people who cannot afford to send money but do.
People who drive cabs...
...who nurse in hospitals...
...who see their kids go to Vietnam.
Why?
Because they care.
Because they want to know the truth.
Because they want their country back.
Because it still belongs to us...
...as long as the people have the guts to fight for what they believe in.
The truth is the most important value we have because if it doesn't endure...
...if the government murders truth...
...if we cannot respect these people...
...then this is not the country I was born in, or the country I want to die in.
Tennyson wrote:
"Authority forgets a dying king."
This was never more true than for John F. Kennedy...
...whose murder was probably one of the most terrible moments...
...in the history of our country.
We, the people, the jury system sitting in judgment on Clay Shaw...
...represent the hope...
...of humanity against government power.
In discharging your duty...
...to bring a first conviction in this house of cards...
...against Clay Shaw...
"...ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country."
Do not forget...
...your dying king.
Show this world...
...this is still a government "of the people, for the people and by the people."
Nothing as long as you live...
...will ever be more important.
It's up to you.
Has the jury reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
Please hand the verdict to the clerk.
Will the defendant please rise?
The clerk will now read the verdict.
"New Orleans, Louisiana. March 1, 1969."
"We, the jury, find the defendant, Clay Shaw, not guilty."
We believe there was a conspiracy.
Whether Shaw was a part of it is another kettle of fish.
There's Jim!
Do you agree that this is a full vindication of the Warren Commission?
It only proves you cannot run an investigation...
...questioning the intelligence operations of the US government.
People claim you're unfit to hold office...
...that you've ruined Clay Shaw's reputation.
Are you going to resign?
Hell no! I'm going to run again, and I'm going to win!
Who will you persecute next?
If it takes me 30 years to nail every one of the assassins...
...then I will continue for 30 years!
I owe that to Jack Kennedy and the country.
There's Clay! There's Clay Shaw!
-How does it feel to be acquitted? -lt's been exhausting.
What'll you do now?
I'm going home and cook some étouffée.
Were you confident about the outcome?
-Do you think Garrison will be back? -I'm sure he will.