In July 1977, Jim Garrison submitted a memo to the HSCA regarding Fred Crisman and Thomas Beckham. Both men had testified before the New Orleans' grand jury and Garrison believed they were important suspects. Here is the handwritten memo (a typed version is below). If anybody notices any transcription errors, please let me know. Here is a transcription of this memo. The first part was taken from the JFK Lancer disk of Crisman/Beckham material; the last part is my transcription. What a memo! Tomorrow, I will post a list of the exhibits that Garrison forwarded along with some of the exhibits. Beckham was a pretty important suspect to Garrison. This memo was written after Beckham had testified to the New Orleans Grand Jury. You can read that testimony here . It's pretty funny - and it's hard to believe that Garrison still took Beckham seriously. As you will see from the exhibits tomorrow, Garrison knew that Beckham was a con man, and yet he still considered him a viable suspect. The idea that Beckham was perhaps set up a patsy when he was sent to the mental institution is more than just a little crazy. It's delusional. And, of course, Garrison believed that Fred Crisman was one of the three tramps! And that there is film of Beckham in front of the TSBD after the assassination - that somehow has never materialized. During the first HSCA interviews, Beckham spelled out his role in the assassination - the two HSCA investigators thought they were on to something and arranged for Beckham to deliver sworn testimony before the HSCA. It didn't take long for the HSCA to realize that Beckham was a con man and that he had nothing of value to contribute. Stay tuned for further blog posts on Beckham. Next post - the exhibits from this memo.

Both Jack Martin and David Ferrie were clergy in the Orthodox Old Catholic Church of North America. It was an "odd sect" which drew the attention of Jim Garrison, thinking that perhaps there was some CIA connection. Making it all the more suspicious, there was a rumor that Oswald had tried to seek refuge in the Abundant Life Temple, after killing officer J.D. Tippit. He hadn't, but he probably ran through the alleyway next to the Temple. And so Garrison had investigator Bill Boxley look at the Abundant Life Temple. Here is his report: The Abundant Life Temple was a member of the American Council of Christian Churches - a right-wing organization headed by Carl McIntire. This became more interesting to Garrison because Edgar Eugene Bradley, whom Garrison indicted for conspiring to kill JFK in December 1967, worked for McIntire. Garrison opened an "Odd Sects" file: There is a notation on the file that it was copied and returned to Garrison in 1978 - perhaps to prepare material for the HSCA or for his book. Here is a memo that Garrison wrote on Odd Churches: This is very much in line with Garrison's theory of propinquity. Note the section above on the Jewish Civic Press - they had the misfortune of being located near David Ferrie's house. I hope Garrison didn't cause them any trouble. Here are some other memos from Garrison's "Odd Sects" folder: In July of 1977 Garrison sent a memo to the HSCA about Thomas Beckham. He included a section on "old churches." Here is that part of the memo: Here is a typed version of the above memo: A Note as to the Possible Function of the “Old Churches” : Similarly, as with Crisman, I think that in the course of the memo the periodic necessary references to the OLD CHURCHES have half answered the question. Applying to this subject the available models, I suggest that the most likely rational conclusion is that here, again – except with more particularity – we have a clandestine substructure, developed to serve the intelligence community’s concept of national security. A bygone structure, to be sure, but its very strangeness – its threadbare irrelevance makes it all the more safe from possible investigators who are looking for spies wearing trench coats and carrying, like so many James Bonds, gold cigarette cases. The churches – like all churches – are virtually free from official inquiry by virtue of the Constitution, not to mention American custom. The “ministers” and “bishops” can accumulate money (religious fund raising) without serious inquiry as to the sources. They are free from the 9 to 5 routine expected of normal patriotic Americans, free to operate in relative seclusion from the expected social involvements, free to engage in obscure crusades or missions and free to travel extensively (for unmarked and unobserved periods) as assignments may dictate. And where, as may be the case in some instances, they may naturally be a home structure for the particular church, one would have the most natural of safe-houses. Let a few examples make the point. Crisman’s background with the Air Force and with Boeing before he takes up his unconfining “ministry” in the Boeing Company’s backyard (Tacoma, Olympia). Beckham, upon his accession to “bishop” (and, apparently, following some time spent with Crisman in Washington) arrives in Omaha – a place with which he has no previous discernible affiliations or contacts – and sets up his own obscure ministry in THE HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH (establishing, en passant, a high level contact officer at Offutt A.F.B. with whom he “is in business) a ministry which – despite its obscurity – is sufficiently successful so that by 1968 he is driving a 1968 Dodge Charger. David Ferrie, whose contract pilot-adventurer indicates affiliation with the agency, should no longer need elaboration, who by 1963 is not only operating out of BANISTER’S place (who, a year or so earlier, was helping to administer the New Orleans version of the Cuban Revolutionary Front), is not only a priest in the Old Orthodox Catholic Church but has, to boot, the warranty supplied by a priest’s lace vestments. And last, but hardly least, we have the handy old evangelical church, (which I now recall was the Abundant Life Church or something close thereto) at the scene of Tippit’s killing, which provided apparent sanctuary for his murderer – and no telling what cover and organizational-locale value prior to the assassination itself. Nor should one overlook the expressed affiliation of the peripatetic Laverne Crafard with the General Assembly and the Church of the First Born, whatever that is). *all of which may happen to be relevant, operating, needless to say, at different levels, ranging from couriers and spear-carriers on through the ranks of foreman and supervisor on up to section and logistics executives. Of course, this was all swallowed by Joan Mellen in her book, A Farewell to Justice , (page 290 - 291). I'll be publishing Garrison's Chrisman-Beckham HSCA memo tomorrow.

This is an excerpt from an interview with Tommy Lee Jones in Film Comment Magazine from Jan-Feb 1994. I find this interview astounding. Jones meets Garrison and says "He opened the first meeting by assuring me he could tell me more about Shaw than Shaw's mother ever knew." Really? For God's sake, Garrison believed Shaw conspired to kill JFK! It gets worse - "These guys, especially Ferrie [Joe Pesci] were also fascists, in love with the idea of fascism." This is pure slander - Shaw was not, in any way, a fascist. Neither was David Ferrie. Then, Jones says that "Garrison's idea was that his whole life was a sham, and that all of his aloofness, snobbishness, and elegance was utter pretense. I had no idea whether it was true or not. The movie was from Jim's point of view. So, I'm playing Jim Garrison's Clay Shaw via Oliver Stone's Jim Garrison." Let that sink in - "Jim Garrison's Clay Shaw via Oliver Stone's Jim Garrison." David Ehrenstein wrote in The Advocate , a gay magazine, that "all Stone has to do is show a sinister Jones groping sleazy tootsie Bacon and acting simperingly haughty toward true-blue hetero Costner and you know who "really" killed Kennedy." Jones added that Shaw was a "deeply corrupt guy, according to Jim....so he's led a dishonest life, and I imagine toward the end of it it started to catch up with him." This is deeply offensive. While Clay Shaw was in the closet, he led his life with grace and dignity. It's no wonder there is a plaque honoring Shaw in New Orleans - while there are no public monuments dedicated to Jim Garrison.

In the lawsuit to stop Garrison's perjury charges, Judge Herbert Christenberry held three days of hearings in January of 1971. Jim Garrison, still the District Attorney, was forced to take the stand and was examined by Clay Shaw's attorneys - Edward Wegmann and Irvin Dymond. John Volz and William Alford were the lawyers for Garrison. Here are some of the highlights of Garrison's testimony: Right off the bat, Garrison is confused about how many times he asked Clay Shaw in for an interview. Shaw came in late December 1966, and then on March 1st when he was arrested). He's not even sure why he was a suspect. Garrison doesn't even know how many times Perry Russo was hypnotized (it was three times). Garrison is then shown a copy of Clay Shaw's indictment and then claimed that David Ferrie was alive when Clay was indicted. This is all not true. Ferrie had died a week earlier, and while Garrison claimed at the time that he was considering indicting Ferrie, that was later contradicted by James Alcock, his second-in-command. Garrison would not tell the court what witnesses he based the Shaw indictment on. Judge Christenberry answered the question for Garrison - the only witness he had prior to the arrest of Clay Shaw was Perry Russo. Shaw's lawyers then probed about the case against Clay Shaw, and they spring a trap. Garrison had charged Shaw with perjury for denying he knew David Ferrie and Lee Harvey Oswald. So, if Garrison admits that proving Shaw knew Oswald and Ferrie was an "essential and material" part of his case, then Shaw's acquittal would mean he could not be charged with perjury. And so, Garrison did not want to answer the question. And, what about the witnesses who discussed the assassination in Dallas. Garrison was then asked about witness Charles Spiesel: I don't believe this for a second. There is no evidence that Garrison recommended Spiesel not be called as a witness. Garrison is then questioned about Perry Russo's lie detector test. Edward O'Donnell interviewed Russo and tried to deliver a polygraph test on June 16, 1967. The readings were erratic and so the test was stopped. O'Donnell kept asking questions, and Russo admitted that perhaps Clay Shaw might not have been at the meeting at Ferrie's apartment. Here is the O'Donnell report: Garrison is then shown a copy of this report: Garrison was then asked about witness Vernon Bundy. So, the Court was forced to make a determination (which was correct) that they found Bundy after Shaw was arrested. Garrison continued to be uncooperative. Garrison was asked whether the perjury charges against Clay Shaw were unique: The Judge then had a question for Garrison: And, there was this revelation from Garrison in a discussion about his book, A Heritage of Stone : This was news to everybody. But, Garrison had plans: Garrison then turned emotional and waxed eloquently about how he cared for Clay Shaw. That mood didn't last long: And to end Garrison's testimony, the theater of the absurd! You can read more about Boxley in my book, On The Trail of Delusion - Jim Garrison: The Great Accuse r. Boxley was perhaps Garrison's favorite investigator because he fed back the same conspiracy theories. He was not a CIA agent - Harold Weisberg and Vincent Salandria convinced Garrison he was so that he could be fired.

Charles Ward ran against Jim Garrison In the Democratic Primary for District Attorney in 1969. He had served in the D.A.'s office for a number of years as an Assistant District Attorney. Garrison won the November primary, and served another term as D.A. Here is a transcript of a speech Charles Ward gave to the Young Men's Business Club of Jefferson Parish. Clearly Ward has his biases, but I think this is an important document in terms of understanding Garrison, his office, and his JFK assassination investigation..

Jim Garrison took a big interest in Thomas Beckham. In the early 1960s, he was a young kid trying to make it in the music business, and Jack Martin tried to help him out. He taught Beckham a few tricks, and before you know it, Beckham was "raising money" for the anti-Castro cause while wearing a priest's habit. Here's an early Garrison memo on Beckham. Ultimately, they found him in Omaha, Nebraska. The fact that Beckham was masquerading as a Doctor should have been a sign. Actually, Beckham only had a grade three education - he was a con man, who especially liked to forge University degrees. He also had a bad reputation that was documented by Better Business Bureaus. Here is a report from the New Orleans BBB: The Ricky Nelson scam was ingenious - finding another Ricky Nelson to sing to the crowd, and absconding with the cash! Here is the report from the Omaha BBB: Garrison had all of these reports. He also had these records of Beckham's commitment to a mental institution. None of this deterred Garrison. Once he received the two anonymous letters ( see my prior blog post) , that discussed Crisman and Beckham, he knew he had to question Beckham. Garrison issued a subpoena with this paragraph: You can read the rest of the story in my book, On The Trail of Delusion - Jim Garrison: The Great Accuser. The big question - did the con man, Thomas Beckham, con Garrison, the conspiracy theorist? Here is a publication that Garrison had in his files. Stay tuned for further posts on Thomas Beckham.

I recently came into possession of the first three chapters of Jim Garrison's manuscript, A Farewell To Justice , from 1985. I am posting today the Table of Contents, and Garrison's chapter outline. Garrison got nowhere with this manuscript. He reworked it and retitled it Coup D'etat, and Prentice Hall paid him a $10,000 advance. They hired Sylvia Meagher as a referee, and she submitted a 26-page critique. She recommended publication because Garrison now said that Oswald was innocent - a position she had long maintained - as opposed to Garrison's naming Oswald as a conspirator in the Shaw trial. However, the book was ultimately rejected by Prentice Hall for a couple of reasons - the chapter on Fred Crisman was unconvincing, and Garrison's insistence that the motorcade route was changed was too big an error for them to ignore. His chapter 5, "The Secret World of Clay Shaw," is just ridiculous. He says the "Italian press in 1962 identified Shaw's group as literally a C.I.A. operation" when the articles came out in 1967. The organization, Permindex/CMC, was not banned in Italy. Garrison mentions Shaw's trip to Montreal with Ferrie which is a complete fiction (check one of my earlier blog posts ). He makes the claim that Clay Shaw and David Ferrie were "both identified as C.I.A. contract employees" which is patently false. He doubts Oswald visited the Soviet or Cuban Embassy in Mexico City. And, as I mentioned yesterday, his chapter 11, "The Escape of the Assassins," centers on the three tramps and Fred Crisman - Garrison claims that they were the killers of Kennedy. I can understand why this book was rejected. And, I can understand why Sheridan Square Press had it rewritten as a first-person narrative. If you want to learn more about why Garrison took Fred Crisman out of his book, please read MY book, On The Trail of Delusion - Jim Garrison: The Great Accuser. I'll be posting, at a later date, the first three chapters in their entirety.

Yes, Clay Shaw was not the only person that Garrison went after for conspiring to kill JFK. In December 1967, Garrison was in Los Angeles and he told his staff to file charges against a Mr. Edgar Eugene Bradley. Here is the original charge sheet: In January, 1968 Garrison filed paperwork in support of extraditing Bradley to New Orleans. Here is his paperwork. Here is Jim Garrison's affidavit. Here are the supporting affidavits. And, yes, THE Roger Craig got into the act by identifying Bradley as the Secret Service man he spoke with outside the Texas School Book Depository. With all this evidence, what could possibly go wrong? Did Ronald Reagan extradite Bradley to New Orleans? Why did Garrison suspect Bradley? Was he linked to the conspiracy with Clay Shaw? Or was he involved in a separate conspiracy? And the big question - was Edgar Eugene Bradley one of the three tramps? Bradley didn't think much of any of this. For the answers to all of these questions, read Chapter 14, "Edgar Eugene Bradley Was a Tramp," in my book On The Trail of Delusion - Jim Garrison: The Great Accuser.

I've already posted Garrison's psychiatric reports from 1951 . Here is a memo that Aaron Kohn, head of the Metropolitan Crime Commission of New Orleans, wrote about Garrison's mental state. By the way, the Metropolitan Crime Commission was a private organization formed in 1952 to investigate corruption within the New Orleans Police Department. You can read more about their history here. Kohn would eventually appeal to the State Government to have Garrison removed. I'll be posting several more Aaron Kohn memos. Stay tuned.

In May 1967 Jim Garrison received an "important" anonymous letter and handed it to Bill Boxley to investigate. This was the beginning of Garrison being interested in Fred Crisman; he was already on the lookout for Thomas Beckham. I find it interesting that the letter writer claimed that Tippit was a homosexual. I have previously posted a cover story from Confidential Magazine about the homosexual ring that killed Kennedy. That article was written by Joel Palmer who worked with Bill Boxley - and it also claimed that Tippit was a homosexual. Clearly Garrison got that from this letter. In January 1968 a second anonymous letter arrived asking Garrison to talk with Fred Crisman. Here is that letter: Crisman and Beckham became key suspects for Garrison and both were subpoenaed to testify before the New Orleans Grand Jury. Garrison also wrote several memos about them to the House Select Committee on Assassinations. But, you won't find any mention of them in his book, On The Trail of The Assassins. If you want the full story, read Chapter 15, "Finally, A Chapter with Flying Saucers" in my book On The Trail of Delusion - Jim Garrison: The Great Accuser. Oh, I forgot - I also tell you in my book who I believe wrote these letters. Just to refresh your memory, here is the cover story for that Confidential Magazine.

My friend John McAdams has put the conclusion of my book, On The Trail of Delusion - Jim Garrison: The Great Accuser, up on his website.

James Phelan had a great sense of humor, and it is on display in this letter to Jim Garrison. Completely unrelated to this letter is one that Sylvia Meagher wrote to Garrison about A Heritage of Stone. I have presented, earlier in my blog, two memos that Sylvia Meagher wrote about Garrison's prosecution of Clay Shaw. She never thought much of his knowledge of the 26 volumes of evidence, and she never thought much of Garrison's case against the Warren Report as presented in the Clay Shaw trial.