I first met Dr. Wecht in the mid-1980s when I was visiting Pittsburgh and stopped into his Forensic Pathology office to introduce myself. We talked for over an hour and got to know each other. A few years later in 1990, at the first organizational meeting of COPA – the Coalition on Political Assassinations at the Quaker Meeting Hall on Capitol Hill, Dr. Wecht was the only one nominated to be director and chairman of the organization that was the primary oversight of the Assassinations Records Review Board (ARRB) and is mentioned in their final report.
With the death of COPA Secretary John Judge, his closest associates at the time decided to disband COPA, and remove his huge collection of papers, books and John’s dream The Hidden History Museum, to rural York, Pennsylvania, where it is now truly hidden in a closed strip mall shop.
So I obtained a free conference call phone number and organized a conference call among the top 20 assassination researchers in the country, and we formed CAPA – Citizens Against Political Assassinations, and Dr. Wecht was the only one nominated to be chairman.
For the first four years I served as secretary, kept minutes of twice monthly meetings and wrote out agendas. Gerry Policoff served as the original treasurer, but after he had a falling out with the organization and died in a car crash shortly there after, Mike Nurko succeeded him as treasurer
The CAPA board had twice monthly conference call meetings and I participated for over 7 years, and Dr.Wecht ran a good meeting, sticking to the agenda and often tinged his comments with some comic relief. Another aspect of Dr. Wecht’s personality not brought out in most reports was his temper that flared up when he was mad and his obscene vocabulary that ocassionally came out.
At the 2013 anniversary conference at the Wecht Institute in Pittsburgh, organized by Dr. Wecht’s son Ben. I presented my combined transcript of the Air Force One radio transmission tapes, the cassettes from the LBJ Library and the reel to reel tapes found among the effects of General Clifton, the President’s military aide. I also presented Ed Premieu’s combined tape of both recordings that he also cleaned up, eleminating static and noise so it is more clear than the origionals.
I also attended a magnificant dinner at Dr. Wecht’s house and met his wonderful wife Ingrid, and mingled with the other presenters, an amazing affair.
I considered him my spiritual Godfather.
Although Dr. Wecht had actively and publicly argued and imposed WC attorney Arlen Specter, they remained friends to the end, with Specter even making a presentation at the 2013 Wecht Conference in Pittsburgh. It reminded me of Vince Salandria and Specter making amends over lunch shortly before Spector died.
Since his death Dr. Wecht came to me in a dream. He was joyful, happy and laughing and was glad to see me. I promised him I would carry on our work, a promise I intend to keep, and was about to ask him what it was like on the other side of life, but I suddenly woke up before I could ask him.
BK NOTES: This is a work in progress and I will be adding tidbits to it as needed, and I will be writing a comprehensive history of both COPA and CAPA soon.
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/triblive-online-only/name/cyril-j-d-obituary?id=55096
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/obituaries/2024/05/13/cyril-wecht-jfk-allegheny-county-pittsburgh/stories/202403220106
Show #1199 May 16 2024
My segment is Part H: beginning at 2:19:49
https://www.blackopradio.com/archives2024.html
https://www.kennedysandking.com/
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/17/us/cyril-h-wecht-dead.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/05/13/cyril-wecht-jfk-conspiracy-dead-obituary/
Noted defense lawyer F. Lee Bailey called Dr. Wecht the “single most important spearhead of challenge” to the Warren report.
A public memorial service will be held on Sunday, June 30 from 1-4 p.m. at the Temple Sinai 5505 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA and will be available on Zoom and Facebook Messenger. Request zoom link from benwecht@aol.com
