CROSSFIRE: The Plot that Killed Kennedy

by Jim Marrs ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 28, 1989

The big daddy of the brood of conspiracy books on the JFK assassination, and one that can't be taken lightly. Marts teaches a course on assassinations at the Univ. of Texas. In brief, Marrs' conclusion is that a consensus of powerful men (not the least of whom might have been LBJ himself) in top US military, banking, government, intelligence, and organized crime circles ordered their faithful agents to manipulate Mafia-Cuban-CIA pawns to kill Kennedy (who, they feared, was about to upset their apple cart by dumping LBJ, pulling out of Vietnam, scuttling the oil-depletion allowance, and pursuing organized crime), with the killing carried out in a military-style textbook ambush ""orchestrated by organized crime with the active assistance of elements within the federal government."" Thus, Marts meshes most previous JFK assassination conspiracy theories into one grand plot--and he may be close to target. Marts' credibility is buttressed by the sheer mass of evidence that he presents. He highlights, for example, how recent computer enhancements of photographs now apparently show figures of gunmen positioned on the infamous grassy knoll from where many civilian witnesses state they heard gunshots. Other photographs seem to show puffs of smoke at the six-foot level, where they would be expected following shots. One deaf-mute witness has even informed FBI agents that he saw two men exchanging rifles behind a picket fence moments before the assassination. Further, Marts almost conclusively demonstrates that Oswald was duped: Dallas police found him only 90 seconds after the shots, calmly drinking a Coke that he had bought moments before at a vending machine (after racing down five flights of stairs?). The likely culpability of the government is enhanced by the fact that many witnesses in Dealey Plaza testified to seeing countless Secret Service agents there, when official logs document that none at all were located in the Plaza. One photograph, which seems to suggest that the real killer wore a uniform evocative of the Dallas police, jives with other evidence that points to Officer Tippitt (purportedly shot by Oswald) as a co-conspirator. A tour de force that is sure to add fuel to the conspiracy fire and that may be the final word until the year 2039--when government files on the case can be unlocked.

Pub Date: Nov. 28, 1989

ISBN: 0881846481

Page Count: -

Publisher: Carroll & Graf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1989

Categories: NONFICTION