Jim Marrs Talks With Howard Hunt's Son About "French" Gunman

[Pasquale DiFabrizio]

I'm curious if anyone has heard of Jim Marrs talking about someone named Michael Mertz? "Mertz" might not be the way to spell the name, but it is how Marrs pronounced it.I saw an interview with Marrs last night where he talked about a French agent who was flown out of the U.S. and out of Dallas in the afternoon after the assassination and that he went by the name Michael Mertz. Marrs mentioned Michael Mertz as the name that the French agent used (based on deathbed confessions by Howard Hunt), and he was saying that Howard Hunt mentioned this "French" gunman as also being up on the knoll in some notes he left for his son. Those notes also mention Morales as being involved as well, according to Hunt's son. Now, Howard Hunt could have been just putting out more disinformation. However, I'm suspecting that there was a second gunman on the knoll. Files, for example, previously said that nobody was with him on the knoll. Now we know that Landale visited him there, right? Could there have been another shooter using the same type or caliber of weapon? There WERE two shell casings found there as well. What do you guys think? Here's the link. The man that Marrs is talking to about half-way through the video is Howard Hunt's son St. John. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHJE4vmzR-E

[Bob]

I think Hunt put some of the facts out there, but I also think he was still protecting some people.

[Pasquale DiFabrizio]

Bob wrote:I think Hunt put some of the facts out there, but I also think he was still protecting some people.I'm thinking so too.The thought that keeps bugging me is that TWO shell casings were found that could not have been just planted there.So, TWO shell casings were found, and the "French" gunman idea is not so far-fetched given that Files originally said that he was alone the whole time, then he admitted that Lansdale visited him. The more-than-one-person-behing-the-fence idea is also corroborated by Lee Bowers. When I went to Dealy Plaza about four years ago, I stood behind that fence. I told my girlfriend at the time that I could hit a person in a car going 10 or 12 miles per hour with a HANDGUN but that I couldn't guarantee a headshot. It's not that far. Then I said to her that if I had a LONG-BARRELED handgun (which is more accurate) or even one with a scope, it would be absolutely easy. I was thinking at the time of long-barreled revolvers that are used in hunting that scopes are attached to. I never ever considered a weapon like the Remington Fireball at the time which would be undoubtedly much MORE accurate given that it's a bolt-action, single shot weapon. How VERY interesting indeed.In those interviews with Groden, he said that Lee Bowers observed much more than he told the Warren Commission. Is Groden going to put it in his new book, JFK Absolute Proof? When IS that book coming out anyway?

[Bob]

Pasquale DiFabrizio wrote:Bob wrote:I think Hunt put some of the facts out there, but I also think he was still protecting some people.I'm thinking so too.The thought that keeps bugging me is that TWO shell casings were found that could not have been just planted there.So, TWO shell casings were found, and the "French" gunman idea is not so far-fetched given that Files originally said that he was alone the whole time, then he admitted that Lansdale visited him. The more-than-one-person-behing-the-fence idea is also corroborated by Lee Bowers. When I went to Dealy Plaza about four years ago, I stood behind that fence. I told my girlfriend at the time that I could hit a person in a car going 10 or 12 miles per hour with a HANDGUN but that I couldn't guarantee a headshot. It's not that far. Then I said to her that if I had a LONG-BARRELED handgun (which is more accurate) or even one with ascope, it would be absolutely easy. I was thinking at the time of long-barreled revolvers that are used in hunting that scopes are attached to. I never ever considered a weapon like the Remington Fireball at the time which would be undoubtedly much MORE accurate given that it's a bolt-action, single shot weapon. How VERY interesting indeed.In those interviews with Groden, he said that Lee Bowers observed much more than he told the Warren Commission. Is Groden going to put it in his new book, JFK Absolute Proof? When IS that book coming out anyway?Good points Pasquale. in terms of Groden's new book, here is the site that will keep us appraised...http://www.jfkmurder.com/

[Pasquale DiFabrizio]

Bob wrote:Good points Pasquale. in terms of Groden's new book, here is the site that will keep us appraised...http://www.jfkmurder.com/Thanks! I'd like to ad, like I told Wim privately, none of this information refutes the idea of Files' participation. If anything, strangely enough, it corroborates information that Wim and others with him have found...like the second shell casing. It's interesting that Files maintains that he only shot once even though a second shell casing was found.This additional-knoll-shooter idea is also corroborated by Jim Garrison who said that "two teams" shot from the knoll, in his opinion. As for the Federal Reserve, I'm beginning to suspect that it was the MAIN reason, or at least on-par with the notion that the defense industry would have lost a LOT of money if JFK stopped that war. Just like you and others have said, JFK actually put out "U.S. Notes" that came from the U.S. Treasury and not the Federal Reserve which is not really "Federal" at all and really just international bankers. I recently had my boss look up the Federal Reserve. I THINK he went to Wikipedia or something, and the way Federal Reserve was described was VERY vague.

[Bob]

Indeed Pasquale. Also, if you check the links on Groden's website, he lists this site. I think his opinion about the assassination conforms pretty closely with Wim's and others. Also, the same goes with Jim Marrs, who interviewed Jimmy Files.

[Pasquale DiFabrizio]

Bob wrote:Indeed Pasquale. Also, if you check the links on Groden's website, he lists this site. I think his opinion about the assassination conforms pretty closely with Wim's and others. Also, the same goes with Jim Marrs, who interviewed Jimmy Files.Exactly!!! Or, as I like to say "THAT's thinkin' with yer dipstick, Jimmy!!!"

[ChristophMessner]

Michael Mertz is definitely a German name. Of course there are Frenchmen with German origin names. But I don't believe that France had much to do with the JFK-assassination. I don't believe that James Files' would have ever shot anything behind the fence either, if somebody he would not have known would have been the second shooter and witnessed Files therefore.

[katisha]

Funny, I was just reading about him in "Legacy of Secrecy" (Lamar Waldron with Thom Hartmann). Michel Mertz, they call him.The book is very comprehensive and ENORMOUS (I'm up to chapter 10 - of 65: it may be some time before I finish it )The first reference to Mertz is (p59):"Trafficante also greatly expanded the French Connection herion network, in partnership with Marcello and other associates, including Jimmy Hoffa. By 1963, this herion-importation network stretched from France to entry points like New York City, Montreal, Mexico City, New Orleans, Houston and Miami. One of Trafficante's most common techniques for smuggling herion was to hide it in special compartments in cars, bringing them into the United States at border crossings in Texas or from Canada, or on ocean liners, as depicted in the French Connection movie. Investigations by the Bureau of Narcotics and a Pulitzer Prize-winning team from Newsday show that the French criminal who perfected the car technique, Michel Victor Mertz, was an important part of Trafficante's network."I've seen a few more mentions of him since that, and according to the index there's lots more about him later on.btw, the premise of this book, for anyone who hasn't read it, is that organised crime done it, and the reason for the cover-up was that JFK and RFK had a secret plan for a coup in Cuba, to take place on 1 December 1963, and neither RFK or LBJ (or anyone else in the Government) could afford to let knowledge of that get out after JFK was killed. Most frustrating thing so far about the book: it mentions several times a pilot who flew Johnny Rosselli "from Tampa to New Orleans on November 21, then to Houston and finally to Dallas on the morning of November 22". It doesn't name this pilot. I pointed at the book and shouted 'Tosh Plumlee!' but it didn't answer me. Books never do There's a website for this book if anyone's interested; it's at http://www.legacyofsecrecy.com (hope it's OK to post that here)

[Pasquale DiFabrizio]

katisha wrote:Funny, I was just reading about him in "Legacy of Secrecy" (Lamar Waldron with Thom Hartmann). Michel Mertz, they call him.The book is very comprehensive and ENORMOUS (I'm up to chapter 10 - of 65: it may be some time before I finish it )The first reference to Mertz is (p59):"Trafficante also greatly expanded the French Connection herion network, in partnership with Marcello and other associates, including Jimmy Hoffa. By 1963, this herion-importation network stretched from France to entry points like New York City, Montreal, Mexico City, New Orleans, Houston and Miami. One of Trafficante's most common techniques for smuggling herion was to hide it in special compartments in cars, bringing them into the United States at border crossings in Texas or from Canada, or on ocean liners, as depicted in the French Connection movie. Investigations by the Bureau of Narcotics and a Pulitzer Prize-winning team from Newsday show that the French criminal who perfected the car technique, Michel Victor Mertz, was an important part of Trafficante's network."I've seen a few more mentions of him since that, and according to the index there's lots more about him later on.btw, the premise of this book, for anyone who hasn't read it, is that organised crime done it, and the reason for the cover-up was that JFK and RFK had a secret plan for a coup in Cuba, to take place on 1 December 1963, and neither RFK or LBJ (or anyone else in the Government) could afford to let knowledge of that get out after JFK was killed. Most frustrating thing so far about the book: it mentions several times a pilot who flew Johnny Rosselli "from Tampa to New Orleans on November 21, then to Houston and finally to Dallas on the morning of November 22". It doesn't name this pilot. I pointed at the book and shouted 'Tosh Plumlee!' but it didn't answer me. Books never do There's a website for this book if anyone's interested; it's at http://www.legacyofsecrecy.com (hope it's OK to post that here)Very cool, Katisha. I'm going to have to check that out. Yeah, it's okay to post the link. Websites like that should thank forums like this that post links to them. More people visit them that way anyway.