The Odio-Connell Mystery: an Update

At the conclusion of the article "The Odio-Connell Mystery," which appeared in the second issue of Fair Play magazine, I wondered whether there was more to the Silvia Odio story than was generally accepted, and whether Gaeton Fonzi might have more information in his files that could shed additional light on what seemed an under-investigated aspect of the JFK case.

A copy of the article was forwarded to Mr. Fonzi via snailmail. He replied in a letter to Fair Play, and said, in essence, that I was making a mountain out of a molehill.

I just don't see the "unanswered" questions being as much of a mystery as you make them out to be. The bottom line is that Mrs. Connell did not corrorborate that FBI report and that Silvia Odio specifically denied what the FBI claimed Connell said.

Mr. Fonzi added that he had checked his files on this matter, and he was kind enough to forward extracts from "my rough notes that indicate what Connell told me." These extracts are reprinted here:

"She [Silvia Odio] did tell me [Lucille Connell] she was involved in the underground, in Cuban work, but she never gave me any details about what that was."

re: day of assassination:
"So then I was talking to another Cuban, the daughter of Mr. Insua, who is head of the Cuban Relief Committee there...No, first I talked to Silvia's sister myself who said that Silvia said that she knew Oswald. She called to tell me that Silvia had been taken to the hospital when she heard that Kennedy was shot and that Oswald was responsible. She fell unconscious at her desk. It was the first spell she had in quite a long time."

re: FBI reports:
Connell: I really don't recall her telling me all that at this time, but after all it's been thirteen years ago. I just recall that he [Oswald] met her, that he came to her apartment door one night and wanted to get her involved somehow.
Fonzi: You told the FBI that?
Connell: As I recall, Silvia herself didn't tell me that, it was her sister who told me that...Frankly, I was not impressed with these two FBI investigators. They were rather new on the job I think. They were not very smart in my opinion and I did more interviewing of them than they did of me. They made no notes at the time, so whatever they wrote down after they left I'm not sure would be 100% correct."


* * *