Admitted Assassin - Roscoe White and the Murder of President Kennedy

Admitted Assassin - Roscoe White and the Murder of President Kennedy - (Peniel Unlimited , LLC 2023) by Ricky White as told to J. Gary Shaw and Brian K. Edwards. 

                                                                        Roscoe White 

Just when you thought the Roscoe White story was put to rest decades ago, well think again, as Gary Shaw and Brian Edwards have brought it back in light of what we now know today. 

Gary Shaw is one of the longest running and most respected Dallas based researchers, while Edwards is an experienced police investigators who has taken a serious interest in the assassination. 

I always thought that there was more to the Roscoe White story, especially after it was attacked so viciously by both lone nutters and conspiracy theorists alike. But there are a few undeniable and unchallenged facts that should make the story worth while pursing. - Roscoe White served in the US Marine Corps with Oswald in San Diego, traveled on the same ship to Japan, and served at the same bases as Oswald in the far east. 

Roscoe White began work for the Dallas Police Department at the same time Oswald began work at the Texas School Book Depository and Roscoe's wife Geneva began to work as a hostess at Jack Ruby's Carousel Club. 

They are firmly established facts that should make anyone take further interest in Roscoe White, and his son Ricky took that interest. 

Years ago, Gary Shaw was partners with Larry Howard and Bud Fensterwald in the JFK Assassination Information Center, which was situated on the third floor of a retail mall in the West End district, directly behind Dealey Plaza. I visited there a few times, and got to know and like the principles. 

Larry Howard gave me the three cassette  tapes of the Air Force One radio transmissions that he said came from the LBJ Library, and I think I put them to good use. 

They were the first to take interest in the Roscoe White story, as explained by Ricky White, and they assisted in the investigation of a number of leads that the late Roscoe White had left behind. He had been severely hurt in an explosion at work - some believe was not accidental, and on a death bed confession to his pastor admitted involvement in the murder of the president. 

In the course of his investigation of his father's background, Ricky White found his father's footlocker, a diary-journal containing his acknowledgement of being a gunman behind the picket fence on the Grassy Knoll, a bank bag with two keys, a scrapbook of news clips and photos, and a waterproof container in which three orders were given to MANDARIN - Roscoe White's code name in the Office of Naval Intelligence - aka Naval Intelligence Service. 

I am familiar with other ONI-NIS letters and orders and they are very similar to the MANDARIN teletype- no official letterhead. 

As I have written extensively about the ONI-NIS connections to the assassination, as the authors acknowledge, I refer to the only "smoking" document from the files of the director of ONI, that reports he had two undercover informants in Jack Ruby's  Carousel Club who maintained the microphones and sound equipment. They reported they saw Oswald there.

What I didn't know, and learned from this book, is that one of the informants worked with Roscoe White as part of the security of a major defense contractor.

Like all networks, spider webs or intelligence networks, or what Sun Tzu called a skein - fishing net, the connections come together at certain points.

In the course of assisting Ricky White in his investigation, Washington D. C. attorney Bernard Festerwald took interest, as did Congressional investigator Kevin Walsh. While Festerwald, who founded the Assassination Archives and Research Center (AARC), thought there was substance to the Roscoe White story, Walsh disagreed and returned to DC in disbelief. Fensterwald then died suddenly, and some say suspiciously. 

Although they called a press conference to announce and release their findings, and received much publicity, the whole story seemed to just fade away and die, until now, as it is being renewed by Shaw and Edward. 

While some say the evidence was created and planted, that too would be a crime and conspiracy.

As Shaw and Edwards acknowledge this when they write, "There remains a remote possibility this evidence may have been prepared and planted to further confuse or discredit independent research into the assassination. The authors do not believe this is so."

"The existing evidence strongly suggests that Roscoe White himself carefully preserved this self-incriminating evidence, believing it would someday be discovered and disclosed."

And Roscoe White was better suited and qualified than the assassin on a number of counts.

And besides the evidence collected, and Roscoe White's deathbed confession there are a number of other witnesses to him being behind the fence on the Grassy Knoll. 

Motorcycle policeman Bobby Harges saw Roscoe White there, as did Beverly Oliver, who knew him as "Genevia's husband." 

Then there's Mike Robinson, a 14 year old who watched the motorcade with his friend Glenn, whose father was 33 year veteran DPD Captain Frank Martin. After the shooting the boys visited Glen's father on the third floor of City Hall and were there when Oswald was brought in. There they witnessed officer Bobby Hargis slam his helmet into a wall. Hargis had seen Roscoe White on the Grassy Knoll.

After awhile Mike had to go to the bathroom, but because there was so much activity on the third floor Captain Martin took him down to the basement where the police officer's lockers were located. While the story was first brought out by Walt Brown, the authors put it this way:

"Mike was completely alone when he entered the restroom. He entered one of the stalls and sat down. Just then the silence was broken by three individuals in mid-conversation as they entered the restroom. Unsure whether he was supposed to be in the officer's facility, Mike lifted his feet ad 'hid' in stall." 

"Initially, the men whispered, but eventually, one of the men raised his voice and used profanity. Mike recalled one of the men said, 'You knew you were supposed to kill Lee, then you stupid son of a bitch, you go and kill a cop.' Then another man entered the restroom and the first three immediately stopped talking. The newest man to enter, whom Mike saw through the small gap between the stall and the stall door, was wearing a blue police uniform. This man stood at the urinal, did his business and left." 

"Mike heard one of the original three men state, 'Lee will have to be killed before they take him to Washington,'" 

"Eventually, the three men left the restroom, but Mike stayed behind for several minutes before he exited the stall. As he passed through the police locker room, one officer, while changing out of his uniform, stared at Mike as if to say, 'Were you there when we were?" 

Later Robinson was shown pictures of police officers and he selected the one of Roscoe White as the officer who stared at him in the locker room.

Now to me that story is believable and convincing, as is the rest of this book. 

It is written short and sweet, Hemingwayish style, so it is easy to read, and touches on all the necessary details in a chronological way that isn't  confusing.

But this story isn't over yet. The authors are asking readers to help identify some of the individuals in photos in the scrapbook, and the mysterious "C. Bowers," allegedly author of the three MANDRIN documents. New Orleans researcher John Gooch has already come up with Dr. Cecil Bowers, who does have a Navy background. 

There are other key characters like Roscoe White that should be re-evaluated again in a similar fashion - Curtis Leverne Larry Crafard, Thomas Beckham, Jack Lawrence, Roy Truly, Jack Crichton, Dr./Col. Jose Rivera, Larry Meyers, Michael Paine and his mother Ruth Forbes Paine Young.

While the book is available over Amazon, its suggested you order direct from the publisher Michael Marcades - Rose Cheramie's son, at Peniel Unlimited, LLC, www.peielunlimited.com. 

Bill Kelly

billkelly3@gmail.com 

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