David Ferrie was an innocent man
Dreitzes
David Ferrie, but it is to the conspiracy theorists' shame that we cannot
admit when we've made a mistake a misjudged someone. We have misjudged
David Ferrie for some thirty-three years. Even many of us wise enough to
see through Jim Garrison's fraudulent "case" against Clay Shaw still
consider Ferrie a viable suspect, despite the utter absence of evidence
against him.
We talk of a "mysterious death," when that death was justifiably ruled a
natural one by autopsy pathologist Ronald Welsh and coroner Nicholas
Chetta. The autopsy report refutes all sinister claims, new and old, made
by Jim Garrison and his followers.
We talk of a "suspicious" trip to Houston beginning some nine hours after
the assassination, when practically every minute of that trip had been
picked clean by investigators over three decades ago. Jim Garrison was
still harping on this trip twenty years after both his staff and the FBI
pored over phone records from stops Ferrie made along the way, interviewed
witnesses who Ferrie had come into contact with, grilled Ferrie and the
two men with whom he took the trip. Investigators have continued to
question the same evidence turned up and interview the same witnesses.
What have we come up with? Nothing.
Did Dave Ferrie know Oswald? We know he did in 1955. What about later? We
have a handful of eyewitness reports from people of questionable
credibility. I don't dismiss them outright, but they prove little. Even
if Ferrie did know Oswald in 1963, there's no evidence whatsoever that
this relationship would have continued past September. That should
severely limit Ferrie's potential as a suspect.
The greatest injustice of all is that which Jim Garrison did to David
Ferrie's character. Garrison's claims about Ferrie largely originated with
Jack Martin. Who was Jack Martin?
A. J. Weberman (www.weberman.com) has done an extraordinary amount of
research on the New Orleans cast of characters. He writes:
(quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The first arrest of Edward Suggs took place in on October 24, 1944, in
Fort Smith, Arkansas. The charge was "inv. susp." On January 11, 1945, he
was arrested for carrying a pistol in Fort Worth, Texas and on December
12, 1946, he was fingerprinted for "Special Police, Los Angeles,
California." On December 31, 1947, Edward Suggs was arrested for
disturbing the peace in San Diego, California, and on May 17, 1949, Edward
Suggs was arrested for "P/c bond" in Dallas, Texas. On May 14, 1952,
Edward Suggs was arrested for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for the
crime of murder in Houston, Texas. On May 16, 1952, he was charged with
murder in Houston, Texas. The charges were dropped. On January 27, 1953,
he was a witness in Houston, Texas. On May 2, 1953, Suggs was picked-up in
Los Angeles on a warrant that had been issued because of the murder charge
in Texas. He was released when the L.A.P.D. discovered he was no longer
wanted in Texas. On March 10, 1954, Edward Suggs was finger printed in
Galveston for vagrancy and drunk. The FBI: "Our files also disclose that
in January 1957, we received information from a local store in New Orleans
that Suggs had become involved in an altercation with a woman he claimed
to be his wife in the store and, as a result, was ejected from the store.
Suggs exhibited identification to store authorities and claimed to be an
FBI agent. We instituted inquiries in this matter at that time to locate
Suggs and determined that he was in a psychiatric ward Charity Hospital
New Orleans as a of January 17, 1957. His psychiatrist informed our agents
that Suggs was suffering from a character disorder and indicated an
interview of Suggs by the Bureau at that time might prolong his
hospitalization." Another FBI document reported that Suggs was a patient
in a psychiatric ward in 1956 through 1957. [FBI 62-109060-4539] The FBI
interviewed Edward Suggs in 1960 about impersonating an FBI agent.
In the early 1960's David Ferrie stated: "I consider Mr. Suggs mentally,
emotionally unstable. He has been in Charity Hospital with psychiatric
bouts of one kind or another. I know him as a man who is commonly spoken
of as an ambivalent. He plays both sides of the street. Most of his
conversation is spent telling you how he wants to torpedo somebody . . ."
(end quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It was Suggs, aka Jack Martin, who started all of the rumors about Oswald
and Ferrie, including the claim that Oswald had been arrested with David
Ferrie's library card. Weberman writes:
(quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
On November 23, 1963, Edward Suggs was visited by bail bondsman Hardy W.
Davis. Edward Suggs told Hardy Davis he had seen a photograph of David
Ferrie holding a rifle similar to OSWALD'S and that David Ferrie had once
discussed a short story plot which involved the shooting of the President
of the United States. The FBI: "Hardy Davis advised that they discussed
remarks made by Ferrie to the effect that he would like to kill several
Deputy Sheriffs and the Superintendent of the New Orleans Police
Department, whom Ferrie believed had been persecuting him and caused him
to be arrested for homosexual crimes." Edward Suggs told Hardy Davis that
a television program had reported that the library card of David Ferrie
had been found in the possession of OSWALD on his arrest in Dallas. When
Hardy Davis heard this he called G. Wray Gill, an employer of David
Ferrie. "While talking to Gill, Hardy Davis advised he heard that Ferrie
had received Cuban literature in Gill's office, and Gill confirmed this in
conversation to Davis. Davis stated he did not know when the literature
was received, or what the nature of the literature was, which was mailed
to Gill's office." Edward Suggs said that Hardy Davis remarked he heard
David Ferrie had received literature from the Fair Play for Cuba
Committee, which had been mailed to the offices of G. Wray. [FBI NO
89-69-341] Edward Suggs later told the FBI: "Suggs does not believe this
to be true, as a Ferrie was connected with anti-Castro group that operated
in New Orleans before the Bay of Pigs invasion. Suggs states he is
acquainted with the leaders of anti-Castro group, and is well aware of
Ferrie's connection with them."
(end quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What on Earth would Oswald be doing with Dave Ferrie's library card
anyway? If Oswald was set up by Ferrie -- as many suggest -- would Ferrie
let his "patsy" run around with his library card on November 22, 1963?
Weberman has catalogued the kaleidoscopic variety of allegations made by
Jack Martin involving Ferrie.
(quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
On November 23, 1963, Edward Suggs called New Orleans Assistant District
Attorney Herman Kohlman and said that in 1955 OSWALD and David Ferrie were
in the Civil Air Patrol together and both were members of the Fair Play
for Cuba Committee in 1963. Edward Suggs told Major Presley J. Trosclair
of the New Orleans Police Dept. the same story.
On Monday, November 25, 1963, Edward Suggs went to FBI S.A. Regis Kennedy
with the story:
"Edward Suggs, 1311 North Prieur Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, advised
that he was listening to a television program on WWL-TV reported the life
of LEE HARVEY OSWALD and reporting various interviews with people in New
Orleans that were acquainted with OSWALD. Suggs stated that one of the
people interviewed whose name he not know, aged early 20's, wearing
horned-rim glasses, recalled that OSWALD had been active in the Civil Air
Patrol with David Ferrie. [This fits the physical and biographical
descriptions of Edward Voebel, who attended a few CAP meetings with Oswald
and was interviewed on TV shortly after the assassination.] Suggs stated
that when he heard this he flipped."
(end quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I used to believe that some of Jack Martin's earliest stories about Ferrie
knowing Oswald were true. Statements like the above should have changed my
mind. If Martin had first-hand knowledge of an Ferrie-Oswald relationship,
he would hardly have needed to make the connection through Oswald and
Ferrie's Civil Air Patrol service.
(quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Suggs advised that in his occupation as a private investigator he had an
occasion to develop considerable information about Ferrie and reported it
to one Richard E. Roby, Special Agent, Investigative Division, Office of
Compliance and Security, Federal Aviation Agency, Washington, D.C. who
must have a big file on Ferrie as a they conducted a complete
investigation of his activities in New Orleans several years ago. Suggs
advised that he called WWL-TV Station and furnished the station with
background information about Ferrie, particularly his homosexual
tendencies and that the fact he formerly operated the Civil Air Patrol. He
also told them that Ferrie was an amateur hypnotist and may have
hypnotized OSWALD and planted a post-hypnotic suggestion that he kill the
President."
(end quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Martin's report was widely publicized later. In all probability, it is the
basis for a similar allegation made by Richard Case Nagell. Nagell
convinced author Dick Russell that he possessed much first-hand knowledge
of the assassination and Lee Harvey Oswald. None of it has been
substantiated. It is also very likely the source of the rumor that
blossomed into the slim volume called *Were We Controlled?* written by one
"Lincoln Lawrence," believed by some to be radio broadcaster Art Ford.
This book claimed that a radio receiver had been planted in Oswald's head
during a hospitalization in the Soviet Union; this receiver was supposedly
used to deliver messages to Oswald, which would trigger post-hypnotic
suggestions.
There appear to have been exactly two people over the years who've taken
this book seriously: Marguerite Oswald and Dick Russell. Russell suggests
that, as far-fetched as the book's premise is, it may serve as some slight
corroboration for Nagell's claim about David Ferrie "programming" Oswald
to assassinate the President. Russell doesn't consider that all these
rumors could have originated in the exact same place: the feverish
imagination of Edward Suggs, aka Jack S. Martin. Russell doesn't take into
account that, while David Ferrie's friends recall Ferrie's interest in
hypnotism, none recall meeting Lee Harvey Oswald. (Of course Perry Russo
is an exception, as is Raymond Broshears, who claims to have had sex with
a "Leon Oswald" who may or may not have been Lee Harvey Oswald. It is not
to Russell's credit that he accepts these stories, particularly Russo's.
Russell seems to go out of his way in *The Man Who Knew Too Much* to avoid
criticizing Jim Garrison. It's not hard to imagine why.)
(quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Suggs stated that he has visited in the home of David Ferrie and he saw a
group of photographs of various Civil Air Patrol cadet groups and in this
group he is sure he saw several years ago a photograph of LEE OSWALD as a
member of one of the classes. He stated he did not recall the group that
OSWALD was in or any other details . . ."
(end quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
So the sum total of Martin's knowledge would seem to be that Ferrie once
knew Oswald through the CAP, something he's apparently inventing evidence
(the non-existent photographs) to support. (Ferrie didn't have any such
photographs; he even went around to former CAP associates to see if any
such photos existed.)
(quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Suggs advised that he was really suspicious of Ferrie's activities when
he received a report from W. Hardy Davis, a New Orleans Bail Bondsman, who
told him that G. Wray Gill, New Orleans attorney and employer of Ferrie
had called him to locate Ferrie who lives down the street from him and at
the same time had denied to the TV station that Ferrie was an employee of
Gill's office. Davis furnished Suggs information that Ferrie had left town
for Texas on Friday evening, November 22, 1963, which information he also
made available to Mr. Kohlman."
(end quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
So Martin didn't even have first-hand knowledge about Ferrie leaving town
that evening; he got the information from Hardy Davis.
Jack Martin spread a great deal of lies, delusions and speculation about
Ferrie, such as the following, which continues directly from the above
report.
(quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Suggs stated that Ferrie is a completely disreputable person, a notorious
sex deviate with a brilliant mind being highly trained in mathematics,
sciences, several foreign languages including Latin, modern Greek and
ancient Greek. Suggs advised that Ferrie had been education in a seminary
and subsequently expelled from the Catholic Church and he, Suggs,
suspected him of being capable of committing any type of crime. Suggs
stated that he felt that Ferrie's possible association with OSWALD should
be the subject of close examination as a he personally believed that he
could be implicated in the killing of President Kennedy." Marina Oswald
was questioned about a "Mr. Farry" after the assassination. [Lardner Wash.
Post 4.2.67]
(end quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Jack Martin had once worked with Dave Ferrie and held a grudge against him
for various offenses which most likely originated in his imagination, like
practically everything else he said. He blamed Ferrie for prejudicing Guy
Banister against him, when Banister knew Martin very well and was quite
capable of mistrusting Martin for plenty of reasons of his own.
It is Jack Martin who began the character assassination of Dave Ferrie,
which Jim Garrison eagerly picked up and disseminated.
Weberman write:
(quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ferrie . . . said he first met Suggs in the Fall of 1961 and "since that
time Suggs has attempted to insert himself in his [Ferrie's] personal
affairs . . . He stated that Suggs began visiting him at the office of
Attorney G. Wray Gill and that Mr. Gill did not want Mr. Suggs hanging
around his office. Ferrie claimed that in June 1963 he put Suggs out of
Mr. Gill's office in an undiplomatic manner, and that since that time
Suggs has bedeviled him in every possible manner . . ."
(end quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Gus Russo writes:
(quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
David Ferrie has long been portrayed on paper and in film as an American
grotesque: a raving hater of President Kennedy, who threatened to kill the
President. He was said to be angry at JFK for failing to help the Cuban
exiles restore liberty to their land. It seems certain he made a
celebrated statement after the Bay of Pigs fiasco on which much of the
portrait has been based. That incident occurred in July 1961, when Ferrie
was addressing the New Orleans chapter of the Order of World Wars. Ferrie
became so critical of Kennedy's handling of the Bay of Pigs invasion that
he was asked to discontinue his remarks. But that was almost certainly
taken out of context and misinterpreted.
A devout Catholic (who was, for a time, a seminarian), Ferrie voted for
Kennedy in 1960 and was "elated" when he defeated Richard Nixon for the
presidency that year. "Things are going to turn for the better now that a
Catholic has been elected," a good friend would remember Ferrie saying.
Another friend elaborated, "After all, he was an Irish Catholic too. He
was an enthusiastic supporter [of Kennedy]. Dave was a spokesman for the
Kennedys . To him, the idea of a Catholic president was mind-boggling, He
thought Kennedy was fabulous" (Russo, *Live By the Sword,* 144).
(end quote) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Who's pushed the idea of Ferrie as a rabid right-winger, a Kennedy-hater,
a potential murderer? Two people first and foremost: Jim Garrison, who got
his information almost solely from Jack Martin (and Martin's friend and
future roommate David F. Lewis) and G. Robert Blakey, who needed a Mob
"connection" close to Oswald; Ferrie, an employee of Carlos Marcello's
lawyer, G. Wray Gill, fit the bill.
Researchers love to cite the HSCA on the Clinton witnesses' credibility.
Who was responsible for bestowing this mantle of credence on the Clinton
folks? G. Robert Blakey and his co-author on both the HSCA Final Report
and Blakey's own book, *The Plot to Kill the President* (since reissued as
*Fatal Hour*), Richard Billings.
Who was Richard Billings? Billing had been a reporter for *LIFE* covering
the Garrison investigation. When *LIFE* made the decision that Garrison's
investigation was disreputable and they would no longer cover it, Billings
went kicking and screaming. Later in 1968, Billings tried several times to
contact Garrison, but Garrison was stung by *LIFE's* loss of confidence in
him and blamed Billings at least in part.
Of all the journalists who were close to the Garrison investigation in its
early stage, only Billings maintained a low profile following the release
of Oliver Stone's *JFK,* refraining from the sort of criticism that others
like George Lardner and James Phelan renewed upon Garrison. See Patricia
Lambert's *False Witness* and Tom Bethell's diary at John McAdams' Kennedy
Assassination Home Page for more about Richard Billings and Jim Garrison.
So the two men responsible for bestowing credibility upon the Clinton
witnesses were a longtime Garrison loyalist and G. Robert Blakey, who
needed a Ferrie-Oswald connection to bolster his Mob-did-it theory. Yet
these same two men are rightly criticized by conspiracy theorists and
lone-nutters alike for distorting the HSCA's work in their Final Report
and Blakey's own book on the case. This is just one of many examples of
CTs citing a source they would normally avoid like the plague, simply
because it suits their agenda -- just as it fit the agendas of G. Robert
Blakey, Richard Billings and Jim Garrison to portray David Ferrie as a
demented, rabidly anti-Kennedy fanatic.
It's time to cut Dave Ferrie loose, folks. We goofed. We believed the
ravings of Jack Martin, the groundless insinuations of Jim Garrison, and
the biased and selfish claims of Robert Blakey and Richard Billings. There
has never been the tiniest shred of evidence against David Ferrie, and we
disgrace ourselves by clinging to fantasies about trips to Houston,
library cards and "mysterious deaths."
David Ferrie was an innocent man. Let him rest in peace.
DR
Dreitzes
>From: lmcda...@aol.com (LMcdan1313)
>Date: 4/29/99 7:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: <19990429193441...@ng-cb1.aol.com>
>
>Bullshit, there are photos of Oswald and Ferrie together as well as Clay
>Shaw.
You are mistaken. The photos in question were taken in 1949 at a benefit
party for New Orleans' WDSU radio station. The man believed by some to be
David Ferrie has been positively identified as WDSU employee Robert
Brannon, who died in 1962. Jim Garrison knew that the man was Brannon; he
had copies of the photos in his files with Brannon's name written on them,
and was questioning people about them as early as March 1967. The
so-called "Oswald" figure does not even remotely resemble Oswald in decent
first-generation prints; see Gus Russo's *Live By the Sword* for an
example. BTW, in 1949, Oswald would have been ten years old.
Neither Shaw nor Ferrie can be connected to the assassination, so the
photos you mention wouldn't prove much even if they were authentic. If you
disagree with any of the above, kindly explain why and cite primary source
material to support your claims.
>Shaw paid for Oswald's boat ticket to Russia
Could you cite your source, please? There's no factual basis for this
assertion. Are you basing it perhaps on the fact that Oswald bought his
boat ticket at a travel agency located in one of the many International
Trade Mart offices? That strikes me as quite a leap of logic.
And since neither Oswald nor Shaw can be linked to Ferrie with any
certainty, you seem to be drifting a bit off-topic. You were going to
explain why we should be suspicious of David Ferrie, were you not?
If by chance you should have any evidence linking Clay Shaw to any
criminal activity, there are dozens of Garrison fans who would love to
hear from you about it. Please cite primary sources to support your
claims.
and Ferrie knew all about
>Oswald's
>activities for the Gov.
Ferrie denied knowing anything about Oswald; no one's ever proved him
wrong, though we now know the two of them met on one or two, possibly
three occasions in 1955. There is no credible evidence for a 1963
relationship between the two, certainly not in the last months of Oswald's
life, when he was not in contact with anyone in New Orleans.
What activities of Oswald's would you be talking about anyway? Cite your
sources please.
>The CIA admitted in 1975 Shaw was an employee>
I'm afraid you're batting zero today, friend. The CIA acknowledged that
Clay Shaw was a contact from 1949 to 1956, passing along routine
trade-related information from his ITM experiences, just like thousands of
other international businessmen. He did not work for the CIA and the HSCA
determined that he was never paid a dime for the information he supplied.
We now have copies of the reports generated by the information Shaw
provided. You can obtain copies at the National Archives. They discuss
international trade.
And since Shaw did not know Ferrie and Shaw cannot be connected to the
assassination of John F. Kennedy, you would seem to be on extremely shaky
ground in your entire approach to this discussion. I could have sworn we
were talking about David Ferrie. No?
If it is Shaw you are interested in, however, I'd be happy to talk about
him. I'd like to hear anything you can offer about why a New Orleans DA
would have attempted to railroad an innocent man the way he did. Before
you respond, however, I recommend a reading of my post, "Who Speaks for
Clay Shaw?" or Patricia Lambert's new book, *False Witness,* as you seem
to be getting your information thus far from some highly questionable
sources.
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/shaw1.htm
Dave Reitzes
Dreitzes
>
>LMcdan1313 wrote:
>>
>> Bullshit, there are photos of Oswald and Ferrie together as well as Clay
>Shaw.
>Oswald's
>> activities for the Gov. The CIA admitted in 1975 Shaw was an employee
>
>Not exactly. No proof of a direct link between Shaw and Oswald. The link
>is Ferrie.
Please elaborate, Anthony. What was the nature of this link, what was its
significance and how did it manifest itself on 11-22-63?
>There are many different types of relationships to the CIA
>which do not involve employment. Clay Shaw was an asset, a contact, not
>an employee.
>
>--
>Anthony Marsh
>The Puzzle Palace http://www.boston.quik.com/amarsh
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Dreitzes
>Date: 4/30/99 1:04 AM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: <19990430010432...@ng-fa1.aol.com>
>
>>DReitzes wrote:
>>Matt, stop beating around the bush. Do you or do you not believe David
>>Ferrie
>was an assassination conspirator?
>
> Do I think Ferrie planned the assassination? No.
>
> Do I think Ferrie knew Oswald? Without a doubt, yes. Not just from CAP,
>but from Oswald's activities in NO in summer '63. That is why I believe
>Banister also must have at least had cognizance of Oswald; Banister lived to
>keep tabs on people pulling the stunts Oswald was doing.
>
> I think it is *possible* that Ferrie was used to help create the legend of
>LHO. I also think Ferrie surely would have gotten wind that people in the
>exile
>community were talking of killing JFK to help their cause. I doubt that he
>knew
>LHO was to be fingered as the assassin. His behavior after the assassination
>-frantic searches for pictures of Oswald and he together- indicate someone
>who
>was surprised by the day's events.
>
> What I object to is painting this person as anything but a right-wing,
>commie-hating Kennedy disliker. Why? Because I believe he and his likeminded
>ilk created the enviroment that allowed such an assassination to occur.
Ferrie was anti-Communist, but he was not a right-winger. That's a Garrison
myth to which you seem a little attached. I've shown you precisely where that
myth arose. I cited the sources. Now it's your turn. If Garrison characterized
Ferrie accurately, please demonstrate this to be so; cite sources.
David Ferrie voted for John F. Kennedy in 1960, was thrilled to have a Catholic
president, and was considered by those who knew him to be quite pro-Kennedy.
The only black mark on Kennedy's record as far as Ferrie was concerned was the
Bay of Pigs. The remarks Ferrie is believed to have made about JFK were made in
July 1961. As far as his friends and acquaintances recall, whatever hostility
there was dissipated before long. Ferrie particularly approved of JFK's stance
on civil rights. He was not a racist like many of Banister's cronies. In fact,
Ferrie wasn't even a Banister crony; he and Banister helped each other out with
a few things because of their mutual association with Carlos Marcello's
lawyers.
Meanwhile, all the talk in the world about Banister and Ferrie knowing Oswald
doesn't change the fact that there's not a shred of evidence tying either
Ferrie or Banister to the assassination.
Do you disagree? If so, why? Please cite sources.
DR