Doug Horne and the document the ARRB did NOT overlook

[ChristophMessner]

On May 11th 2010 Elisabeth Mons Whitten posted about "Jfkmurdersolved and the document the ARRB overlooked" on Douglas Horne's facebook page and Doug responded this: "I'll make this one comment on the above, since Elizabeth posted it here on my wall. This is the truth, if anyone is interested in hearing the real (and complete) story:The ARRB staff was very interested in Mr. Robinson. He was located, contacted, and interviewed by the ARRB staff circa May of 1996. About 5 members of our staff were present in ... Mehr anzeigenthe room when he was interviewed. My boss, General Counsel Jeremy Gunn, conducted the questioning. I took copious notes, and later wrote a detailed written meeting report, which was reviewed by two or three members of our staff (as I recall, both General Counsel Gunn and Executive Director Marwell reviewed it for accuracy). That meeting report was placed into the JFK Records Collection, along with all of our other staff interview reports. His interview report was first relesed to the public at the end of July, 1998 (along with a special medical document records release). It has been in the JFK Records Collection for the public to view since November of 1998.I requested---implored---that the interview be audiotaped. It was not, because General Counsel Jeremy Gunn refused to do so. His comment before the interview was: "Some of these witnesses are liable to say anything; the research community might get too excited if we were to record every interview," or words to that effect. [I did not agree with this methodology; I believed that all of our staff interviews should have been audiotaped.]Mr. Robinson gave us a very important interview. Both his HSCA interview transcript, and the meeting report of his ARRB interview, have been published in the Appendix to my book, which is online at the Mary Ferrell foundation website. I wrote extensively about what Mr. Robinson had to say in my book, particularly in Chapter 6, titled "The Morticians."Personally, I wish Mr. Robinson had been deposed. He was not. In order for a medical witness deposition to take place, the staff Executive Director, David Marwell, would have had to recommend this course of action to the Board, and then the Board would have voted on the proposal. Mr. Robinson gave us more than ample reason to take his deposition, with some of the recollections he provided to us about the procedures he witnessed, and the President's wounds, and about the bootleg autopsy photos (the versions the research community has had since 1981) which we showed to him in our office. It would have been very useful for us to show him the original autopsy photos, under oath, and elicit his responses to our questions, but since he was not deposed, this didn't happen.Although Mr. Robinson was very young when he witnessed the autopsy---about 20 years old---in my estimation he had one of the best memories of all of our medical witnesses, and was very, very credible. I don't think examining him under oath would have resulted in him changing any of his answers, but it would have resulted in him seeing the original autopsy images in the Archives, which would have been very important indeed, since they are of much better quality than the bootleg versions. (See my 1996 written report of his interview, and Chapter 6 of my book, for the reasons.)I am getting tired of explaining this, but just one more time I will attempt to do so: the ARRB was not empowered to reinvestigate the assassiantion, only to gather and facilitate the declassification of records. However, Congressman Stokes of Ohio encouraged the Board Members to do all they could to "clarify the record of the President's autopsy and to clarify the medical evidence," since he was aware that many of the HSCA's actions (while he was Chair of the Committee) had engendered controversy. The rules the ARRB staff operated under were such that we could conduct any unsworn staff interviews of any witnesses we wished without the approval of the Board Members; however, depositions required the approval of the Board Members, since they required an expenditure of considerable staff resources in both personnel and dollars. So while we did do "extra credit work" and attempt to "clarify the record" by interviewing Mr. Robinson, he was not deposed.Only Jeremy Gunn and/or David Marwell can answer the question of why Marwell did not recommend to the Board that Robinson be deposed. [There was certainly ample reason to do so, based upon his initial ARRB interview, if there had been the will to do so.]So, the ARRB didn't "miss" Tom Robinson, by any means---we simply did not requestion him a second time, under oath.As I point out in my book, in Chapter 6 and elsewhere, he provided us with vital information.That's it." So is this reason now to change some statements on the jfkmurdersolved website?

[Phil Dragoo]

ChristophTo see Doug Horne repeat the difficulties he encountered in attempting to force the ARRB to use its powers to expose the crime of the Republic is painful.I've read his IV and reviewed it on Amazon (with his compliment posted after); have read V and intend to review. Am finishing III and II will be ordered next week.I've seen references to Robinson. I know of Horne's difficulties with Gunn and Marwell. With the fools on the board of the Board it's a wonder Horne fared as well as he did. It's very Fonzi-Last Investigation deja vu.He's established to my satisfaction the body arrived 6:35. Humes had a Tool Time episode 6:45-7:15. There were four autopsy conclusions and two signed autopsy protocols; two brains and two brain exams.He danced with the devil Zapruder for nearly two hundred pages and I'm convinced Hawkeyeworks was the scene of the crime for a catalog of sins, including "jet-black trapezoid with remarkably sharp edges" and that wonderful bubble gum monster on the side of JFK's head--not to mention Greer's head-turn rivaling that of Linda Blair in Exorcist.We have enjoyed the gift of Douglass and Horne; and have enraged the Matrix to the point at which The Sixth Floor Mausoleum is spontaneously spitting safes into Elm Street.I love the smell of x-ray emulsion in the morning--it smells like victory.

[Bob]

To me, Thom Robinson is perhaps the key witness at Bethesda, along with the FBI agents. Robinson was there for the pre-autopsy procedure that altered the head wounds on JFK as well as the actual autopsy. He obviously is a key witness in Douglas Horne's book (Inside the Assassination Records Review Board: The U.S. Government's Final Attempt to Reconcile the Conflicting Medical Evidence in the Assassination of JFK ). Robinson is the mortician that Wim has mentioned before in other posts. Here is one of those posts by Wim...Lastly, what you don't know is that I have an interview with Thom Robinson, wherein he states that the gaping hole in JFK's skull was probed with a tiny probe and that one of those probes from INSIDE the skull came out at the throat wound! That's why he told me that he has always been very quiet about this, but that he has chuckled for all those years at the conspiracy buffs who claim JFK was shot in the throat from the front. He knew better since 1963. And I know better since I spoke to him. I should have known better earlier by listening to Jimmy, instead of to the JFK research community, and what they have brainwashed themselves with. I too was a victim of what I wanted to believe, and looked so self-evident.To me, that is yet another reason why the story that Jimmy Files tells about his head shot to be absolutely true. The mercury filled bullet from his Fireball caused fragments from the round to come out of the throat from INSIDE the skull. Robinson also saw small shrapnel wounds on JFK's face, which also came from the round that Files fired. In addition, Robinson saw the entrance location from Files shot, which was near the temple area, but closer to the side of the forehead, which is exactly where Files said it was. Files was actually aiming for the right eye of JFK, but the shot from Chuck Nicoletti from behind in the Dal Tex building occurred a millisecond before the Files shot, which made JFK's head move forward, therefore causing Files to miss just slightly.Again, Robinson was PRESENT at the pre-autopsy procedure that altered JFK's wounds as well as the autopsy. Horne talks about all the problems at the autopsy in his book.An autopsy that was controlled by Roy Kellerman once he arrived at Bethesda, with help from Bill Greer. The two guys that led JFK to the slaughter in Dealey Plaza. Luckily, Kellerman wasn't present when Robinson was allowed to stay at the pre-autopsy procedure. Kellerman also controlled all the entrances of the coffin of JFK at various times, to make it look like JFK had just arrived, when he had been at Bethesda since 6:35.