fORUM COMMUNITY RESEARCH PROJECT

[Dealey Joe]

deleted

[Dealey Joe]

RUSSELL DOUGLAS MATHEWS

[Bob]

Dealey Joe wrote:RUSSELL DOUGLAS MATHEWS portions of testimony with HSCA APRIL 2, 1978with his Las Vegas AttorneyHARRY E. CLAIBORNE, 108 South Third Street, Las Vegas, Nevada ----------------------PORTER BLEDSOE BORN IN TX 1924? ILLEGITIMATE- - FATHERS NAME COULD HAVE BEEN MATHEWS?Mathews,born in Aspermont, Tx 7/26/1920 4 YEAR VARIATION IN BIRTH DATESlived there until 7 ys oldthe moved to Dallas until 1970then moved to Las Veganow resides at108 South Third Street, Las Vegas, Nevada.-------------------------- NOT KNOWN WHEN MARY AND PORTER CAME TO DALLAScould not remember early jobs in Dallastol FBI in 12/1963 he knew J. Ruby for 12 yrs. (1951)then told hsca "I didn't really know Ruby at all"--------------------------- RUBY AND OSWALD WERE IN PORTERS MOM'S HOUSE IN '63lived in Cuba in 1958 and 59came back to Dallas in Jan. 59 during revolutionfor a few weeks then went back to Cuba until Nov. 59.then later said Nov. 1960 when JFK was elected-------------------------- PORTER COULD CERTAINLY HAVE BEEN IN CUBA IN '59-59R.D.owned two bars in Cubaknew Lewis McWillie there who was acquaintance with Trafficante/Lanskey------------------------- PORTER REPORTEDLY WORKED IN MOTEL AND HUNG OUT IN A BAR IN 2005lived in Irving, TX in 1963?------------------------ H.H. GRANT QUESTIONED BY GARRISON IN 66-67Q. What were your thoughts when you heard that Jack Ruby had killed Lee Harvey Oswald, given the fact that Jack Ruby was a person you knew even though casually? A. I just couldn't believe it actually. Probably just like anyone else, I couldn't believe that anyone would do what he did. It was unbelievable to me that someone would walk in a police station and do that. If that is the reaction you're looking for, I couldn't believe it. ---------------------------- " IF THAT IS THE REACTION YOU ARE LOOKING FOR?"R.D. married to Elizabeth Ann (Flanagan) Matthews, Shreveport, LOUISIANA - WHO REPORTEDLY WAS AQUAINTED WITH RUBY.divorced late 1950's PORTER HAD NO KNOWN CHILDREN -- HH GRANT STARTED TO TELL UPI HIS WIFE KNEW RUBY-------------------------------PORTER WAS IN LOUSIANA IN THE MID FIFTY'S WITH DAVID FERRIE LCAPreturned to Dallas from Marine corps in Oct/Nov 1945---------------------------- REPORTED TO HAVE ATTENDED THE GEORGETOWN SCHOOL OF FOREIGN SERVICE LATE 40'SQ. How do you know Mr. Campisi? A. I went to school with Campisi, Sam Campisi, when we were kids. I have known him all my life.A. Yes, sir, he is Sam's brother. I know him well. Q. Was your relationship with Joe Campisi the same as your relationship with Sam? A. Joe was a little older, but yes, sir, I've known him for years.------------------------A. Yes, sir, I know Mr. Benny Binion. I work for him now. Q. When did you first meet Mr. Binion? A. It was out here, I guess. I don't remember what year. It was 20, 25 years ago, I guess, 20 or 25. I don't remember. Q. When you say "out here," do you mean Las Vegas? -----------------------------------------Q. When was the last time you spoke to Mr. McWillie? A. Well, he worked at the Horseshoe for a while. I believe that is the last time that I've seen him. Q. What time period was that that he worked there? A. Let's see, I guess he has been gone away from there over a year ago, I suppose. He was working there when--we were working the same place together. I saw him then. I don't recall seeing him any since then. -----------------------------------Q. Prior to your moving to Cuba what were you doing in Dallas, Texas? A.I was in the bail bond business. ----------------------------------- PORTER WAS LISTED IN INSURANCE CLAIM/BOND BUSINESSQ. Where were you when you heard that Jack Ruby assassinated Lee Harvey Oswald? A. In my home at that address you have there; IRVING, Texas.--------------------------------- PORTER OWNED A FEW DIFFERENT PROPERTIES ONE COULD HAVE BEEN IN IRVING AND WAS LISTED AS LIVING WITH MARY IN OAK CLIFFHarry Eugene Claiborne (July 5, 1917 – January 19, 2004) was a United States district court judge who was impeached for tax evasion. He was only the fifth person in U.S. history to be removed from office through impeachment by the U.S. Congress, and the first since Halsted Ritter in 1936.Harry Eugene Claiborne was born in McRae, Arkansas and graduated from Cumberland School of Law at Cumberland University in 1941. He was admitted to both the Arkansas and Nevada bars, and spent two years as a deputy prosecutor before becoming a well-known defense attorney in Las Vegas.Claiborne ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1964, losing in the Democratic primary. He was appointed to be a federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Nevada by President Jimmy Carter in 1978, on the recommendation of his former opponent, Senator Howard Cannon.Claiborne was indicted by a federal grand jury for bribery, fraud, and tax evasion in December 1983. In April 1984, however, the jury deadlocked and a mistrial was declared. He was tried again in July on only the evasion charges and was found guilty the next month, making him the first federal judge ever convicted of crimes while on the bench. Claiborne was sentenced to two years in prison in October, and was in prison from May 1986 to October 1987. Many lawyers and judges in the Nevada legal community regarded it as a case of selective prosecution. According to Nevada State District Judge Michael Cherry in 2004, "He was very, very fair to criminal defendants to his detriment. I think that is why the government was so interested in prosecuting him and knocking him off the bench."[1]Harry E. Claiborne was impeached by the United States House of Representatives on July 22, 1986, on two charges of tax evasion and one charge of bringing disrepute to the federal judiciary. He was convicted by the U.S. Senate on October 9, 1986, removing him from office.Claiborne was allowed to begin practicing law again in Nevada in 1987, in a decision by the Nevada Supreme Court that implicitly questioned the federal prosecution. His attorney was future Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.On January 19, 2004, he committed suicide in Las Vegas, Nevada, apparently due to his health battles with cancer and Alzheimer's disease.A flamboyant attorney, Claiborne would frighten opposing counsel by carrying in large stacks of papers that he passed off as his evidence in the case. The papers in the folders often were blank. In the 1970s he represented famed entertainer Frank Sinatra in several of his legal battles with Vegas gaming officials.You truly ARE Joe Friday! Excellent gumshoe work there Joe.

[Pennyworth]

amazing detective work and gumshoeness too I might add, Dealy ... too bad the posts got deleted but i know there must be a reason behind it

[katisha]

Joe, another snippet re the LCAP photo. The photo's reproduced in A Farewell to Justice, and the caption says "...John Ciravolo is to Oswald's right..." Not sure if this means the guy you thought might be Dobkins or the guy slightly in front of Oswald and to his right. I haven't read the book yet so I don't know who Ciravolo is or where he's supposed to fit into it all (except that clearly he was in LCAP with Oswald).Also the photo appears "courtesy of John B. Ciravolo, Jr" so maybe he's the owner of the original.

[Dealey Joe]

Katisha, I have no proof of who that is.if he says it is someone he knows I would be interested in knowing if he knows any of the rest of the guys in the photo.most of the stuff I find is at the best a wild guessAnother thing is how can we be sure which name they are using at a given time?Is that a book?

[Dealey Joe]

FRONTLINE obtained this photograph from John B. Ciravolo, Jr., of New Orleans. Ciravolo was also a C.A.P. member in 1955 and says he was in the same unit with Oswald and was standing right in front of him in the photo. Ciravolo identified David Ferrie, while former C.A.P. cadet Tony Atzenhoffer, also of New Orleans, identified Oswald and Ferrie in the photograph, and Colin Hammer, who says he served with both men in the C.A.P., also identified both in the photograph.FRONTLINE located the photographer, Chuck Frances, who says he took the picture for the C.A.P. Francis also said that when he was interviewed by the FBI, he told them Oswald and Ferrie knew each other, but he did not tell them about the photograph. The executor of Ferrie's estate, as well as Ferrie's godson, also picked out Ferrie. After the Kennedy assassination, David Ferrie told investigators he never knew Lee Oswald. "I never heard David Ferrie mention Lee Harvey Oswald," said Layton Martens, a former C.A.P. Cadet and a close friend to Ferrie until Ferrie's death in 1967.But when FRONTLINE showed Martens the photograph, he identified Ferrie. "It does indicate the possibity of an associaton," said Martens, "but if and to what extent is another question. Of course we've all been photographed with people, and we could be presented with photographs later and asked, 'Well, do you know this person? Obviously, you must because you've been photographed with them.' Well no, it's just a photograph, and I don't know that person. It's just someone who happened to be in the picture.""As dramatic as the discovery of this photograph is after thirty years," says Michael Sullivan, FRONTLINE executive producer for special projects, "one should be cautious in ascribing its meaning. The photograph does give much support to the eyewitnesses who say they saw Ferrie and Oswald together in the C.A.P., and it makes Ferrie's denials that he ever knew Oswald less credible. But it does not prove that the two men were with each other in 1963, nor that they were involved in a conspiracy to kill the president."=============================== 46. Angelina CIRAVOLO - U.S. Social Security Death IndexBirth: 8 Sep 1917 State Where Number was Issued: Louisiana Death: 12 Jan 1997 47. Annie CIRAVOLO - U.S. Social Security Death IndexBirth: 20 Nov 1897 State Where Number was Issued: Louisiana Death: 15 Dec 1970 48. Anthony CIRAVOLO - U.S. Social Security Death IndexBirth: 18 Jan 1914 State Where Number was Issued: Louisiana Death: 14 Apr 1999 49. Bonnie CIRAVOLO - U.S. Social Security Death IndexBirth: 18 Jun 1918 State Where Number was Issued: Louisiana Death: Apr 1984 50. Corinne CIRAVOLO - U.S. Social Security Death IndexBirth: 10 Aug 1928 State Where Number was Issued: Louisiana Death: 8 Oct 2005 51. John CIRAVOLO - U.S. Social Security Death IndexBirth: 6 May 1917 State Where Number was Issued: Louisiana Death: 15 Aug 1990 52. John CIRAVOLO - U.S. Social Security Death IndexBirth: 18 Jan 1922 State Where Number was Issued: Louisiana Death: 29 Jun 1989 53. Josephine CIRAVOLO - U.S. Social Security Death IndexBirth: 6 Sep 1903 State Where Number was Issued: Louisiana Death: Dec 1986 54. Sam CIRAVOLO - U.S. Social Security Death IndexBirth: 12 Apr 1912 State Where Number was Issued: Louisiana Death: 26 Sep 1994 55. Vincent CIRAVOLO - U.S. Social Security Death IndexBirth: 7 Jun 1915 State Where Number was Issued: Louisiana Death: 14 Mar 1995

[Bob]

Great tip Katisha. Go get 'em Joe.

[katisha]

A few docs on Ciravolo and the CAP:http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archi ... eId=336233

[kenmurray]

katisha wrote:A few docs on Ciravolo and the CAP:http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archi ... 36233Great work Katisha.