"Unafilmer" A Fraud

A Canadian university student has admitted to researchers that his knowledge about a "never before seen" home movie of the JFK assassination was a hoax, as was the existence of the film.

Wynn Hamonic, a student at Western University in London, Ontario, first got the attention of the research community after he sent an anonymous letter over the Internet. Hamonic claimed that he had an 8mm amateur film showing the commotion going on around Dealey Plaza during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and asking advice as to who should get access to the film for study.

After word got out about the possible existence of new film footage of the assassination, a number of researchers along with the US Assassinations Records Review Board attempted to communicate with Hamonic for further details. Hamonic's identity and location remained elusive until his email address was traced to Western University in London. From that point I was able to contact Hamonic by phone and it was during this conversation that he conceded that the film was owned by someone else who had asked Hamonic to represent his interests over the Internet. After three months of researching Hamonic's claims, he finally confessed to making the whole thing up.

The story would have ended at this point if not for the fact that Hamonic's attempt at deception was documented by his own words. Disinformation regarding the JFK assassination is something commonly discussed within the research community but it is rare to find somebody actually admiting to doing it and saying so in writing.

This was not just a young student trying to pull a University prank. This was a 33 year old adult, who by his own admission spent months planning this hoax. Perhaps by reading the following documentation (and it is extensive) other researchers will go the extra distance to confirm the reliability and crediblity of someone's tale.

APRIL 19TH, 1996, one day after I called the person I call "The Unafilmer."

Hello Wynn,

Thanks for your time last night. Let's stay in touch. I am banking that
you are sincere and for that reason I will maintain your privacy. The
following is my report to the research community. I hope you will forward
this to your friend. I believe you already have the government contact
address..Dave Marwell. If not, let me know and I will forward this to you.

Regards,

Rick 
 
>To:jfk-conspiracy@kendaco.telebyte.net
>From: rnelson@connect.reach.net (Rick Nelson)
>Subject: THE "UNAFILMER"
>
>Folks,
>
>The person who wrote a letter about having a "never before seen film" of
the JFK
>assassination is a student in the Graduate School of Library & Information
at Western
>University in London, Ontario, Canada.
>
>I spoke to him on the phone last night and he stands by his story and
denies that it is 
>a hoax. However he admits that it was a big mistake to have advertised his claim over 
>the Internet without first considering the consequences. He says that some of the 
>replies have included death threats.
>
>The student says he doesn't have the film and has in fact been speaking on
behalf of the actual owner. He wouldn't tell me who that person is but I
believe he lives in the
>United States, if he does in fact exist. He says they have been longtime
friends and
>the posting over the Internet was done out of a favour to the owner. The
student says 
>he has seen the film, it's an 8mm and there are two or three 3
minute reels. He 
>wouldn't say where the cameraman was standing at the
time the shots were fired except 
>that it was between 50 to 100 feet from
the president. He's not sure what value the 
>film has to the investigation
as he is not a trained photo expert. He says that the 
>film features a lot of panning and zooming in and out. He admits he cannot explain why 
>the cameraman didn't go to the authorities after the shooting.

>
>The student told me the decision to advertise for suggestions on the
Internet was a
>naive one based on a lack of knowledge about the JFK assassination. He
says both he 
>and the film owner never followed the story until after the
film fell into their lap. 
>Having no point of reference they decided to post a notice over a newsgroup
which just 
>happened to be alt.conspiracy.jfk. He says the experience
didn't have the desired 
>effect as some of the replies threatened bodily
harm. He said that he has forwarded 
>the positive suggestions to the
owner. However, his friend is now spooked and may not 
>release this film
anytime soon.
>
>I told him that "if this was not a hoax, the owner should release that film
right 
>away." I pointed out that it was he, and not the owner who was
being made the fall
>guy here and as a favour to the student, the owner should submit the film
to the proper
>authorities immediately.
>
>The conversation went on for about an hour and it was my impression that he was
>sincere. He wasn't expecting my call, I started right in on him with some
tough
>questions and he never missed a beat. He was evasive in some of the
questions but
>he said that's because he was protecting his friend's wishes that some
information
>not be disclosed. He seemed to be scared about the threats and I got the
impression
>that he was over his head. Is he scared because this is a prank that has
backfired? 
>I suggested that if this was a hoax, it could jeopardize his
Internet access at the 
>university which might be the least of his concerns. Having said all that he still 
>stands by his story. He has promised to stay in touch with me (well we'll see). Out 
>of respect for his privacy I feel it would be the correct thing not to disclose his 
>name and address for now. Hopefully this will give him the incentive to convince his 
>buddy to release the alledged film into the proper hands at his earlest convenience.
>
>He read me some names of people who had replied to his posting. Some are
from this
>newsgroup and I'm happy to see that your suggestions were honourable ones.
Nobody
>has tried to pull the kind of stunt that surrounds the release of the Patty
Pascall
>film. 
> 
>Regards,
>
>Rick Nelson

X-POP3-Rcpt: rnelson@connect
Return-Path: whamonic@julian.uwo.ca
X-NUPop-Charset: English
Date: Fri, 19 Apr 1996 11:58:36 -0500 (EST)
From: "wynn hamonic" 
Sender: whamonic@julian.uwo.ca
Reply-To: whamonic@julian.uwo.ca
To: rnelson@connect.reach.net
Subject: RE: JFK ASSASSINATION

Rick, here is an assortment of some of the messages I have been
receiving.(AUTHOR'S NOTE:For reasons of privacy I have decided not to
include these messages in this story) Your question as to how I could send
messages to my friend is simply through coded newsgroup postings which he
can read from his terminal. Once again, this matter is closed on my behalf.
In a way I know eventually these films will be revealed to the public. I
believe there is enough shots of activities and people that the person or
persons who perpetrated this crime will be exposed. I think the film will be
a real eye opener to you as it was to me. In fact it was really eerie much
like watching a true to life horror movie. 

>------------------------------
>From: rnelson@connect.reach.net (Rick Nelson) 
>Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 23:24:27 -0400
>To: whamonic@julian.uwo.caTo: 
>Subject: JFK Update
>
>Hello Wynn,
>
>Anything new happening from your end? If you have any more mail for study,
>please pass it along. I forwarded your death threats to one of my
contacts. Have you
>talked to your buddy and if so has he made any decisions?
>
>Regards,
>
>Rick

>Dear Rick:
>
>I'm glad you are still interested in pursuing this matter because I have
>some good news and bad news. The bad news first. My friend has refused to
>copy the two reels and he has cut off all communication with me. He has this
>morbid paranoid delusion that now that I went public with the film the CIA
>is tapping my phone line and bugging my apartment and watching all my
>communications. I have no access to him and he is not responding to any of
>my messages. He has told me that he wants nothing more to do with me and
>asks me that I hope I understand. This is it! One thing I can count on is
>his word. There is a 100% assurance I've seen the last of him.
>
>Now the good news. I want to spill the beans on what is in the film and as
>much information on him as I can remember. The goal: to recover the film
>before he does what he has threatened to do: (1) destroy the film, or (2) take
>the film with him to his grave. We must act now. If I contact the
>appropriate authorities they might just laugh at me and consider my trip to
>Philly and my friend all one big joke. I need your help. I want to meet with
>you and give you all the information I have. If the film is to be recovered
>it will take the services of professionals. I want to remain anonymous. If
>he destroys the film, we're sunk. I'm not after revenge for him leaving me
>high and dry, I just want the film recovered, copies made, and the truth be
>known. I'm willing to meet with you or someone you trust. Lets get the film.
>
>Sincerely Yours,
>
>Wynn
>Graduate School of Library and Information Science
>

>

Hello Wynn,

Thanks for the reply.   I appreciate that you have put your trust in me and
I will do whatever I can.

I am several hundred miles away so my first question to you is, can we
communicate information by way of the internet?   I wouldn't suggest you do it by way of your own email address but that of a friend's. I am secure at this end.

The photo expert I suggested as a contact for your friend (Robert Groden)
just happens to live in Philly and has e mail.   He can be reached at a moment's notice with instructions. If you are sincere with your quest to help get this film out, I would like you to consider the above suggestion as a possible "game plan".   

Please get back to me at your earliest convienience,

Regards,

Rick


Wynn,

A follow-up note. For me to come to London this week would require and act
of good faith on your part. You must promise me that you will provide upon
my arrival, your friend's name, the city where he lives, address, phone
number, email address. I want to see a copy of any email messages
between the two of you, phone records, information about your trip to Philly.

You must understand Wynn, I have gone to bat for you within the research
community by stating that you are sincere. I think it's only fair that you
help me continue that belief by providing me with everything you know about
this friend along with whatever "documentation" you might have. That would
be an important step in building a trust. If you promise to do this, I will
come to see you.

Regards,

Rick

Wynn,
 
My responses to your concerns are in captial letters.

>Dear Rick:
>
>I would like to meet with you in person. If you want a detailed description
>of him I could provide a facial description. A FACIAL DESCRIPTION? I WOULD
ALSO REQUIRE A NAME, ADDRESS,PHONE NUMBER. ARE YOU PREPARED TO PROVIDE THAT?
I could better describe what the film contains by the use of a map of the
environs. THAT'S NO PROBLEM. You need to let me know your contacts (I HAVE
CONTACTS ALL ACROSS THE STATES. IT WOULD DEPEND ON WHAT AREA OF THE COUNTRY
HE IS IN FOR ME TO DECIDE WHICH CONTACT I GET IN TOUCH WITH)as to hunt down
my friend will take professionals as he is always on the move. DOES THIS
PERSON NOT HAVE A PERMANENT ADDRESS? This man is truly paranoid. I'm
available all this week. We could meet here in London at a restaurant. WHAT
ASSURANCE DO I HAVE TO YOU WILL KEEP THE APOINTMENT? I'll need a map of
the assassination scene etc.NO PROBLEM.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Wynn
>
>P.S. It doesn't really matter who I talk to now as long as those whom I do
>talk to will hunt down my friend and grab the film.

AGAIN, IT WILL NOT BE A PROBLEM AS LONG AS YOU CAN PROVIDE HIS NAME, THE CITY HE LIVES IN, THE ADDRESS, AND THE PHONE NUMBER. 

If not, I'm afraid we'll never see the film again. 

THERE IS A PRESIDENTAL ORDER TO SUPENA ANY MATERIAL RELATED TO THE
ASSASSINATION. THAT INCLUDES FILM. ALL THAT IS NEEDED IS THE LOCATION
WHERE TO FIND IT. ARE YOU WILLING TO HELP? 

I'll return any new messages to you on tuesday. 
Graduate School of Library and Information Science

Dear Rick:

Here's the background to my friend. I met him in 1986 while attending the
College of Great Falls in Great Falls, Montana. I met him at the Great
Falls Public Library. I was looking for some books on ice hockey and I sat
down at a table. There I met him as he was reading a book on chess. I
mentioned to him that I was a former high school chess champion and we
started to gab about the intricacies of chess. He told me he is from out of
town and comes to Great Falls once a month to read at the library. We agreed
to meet every second Friday of each month for a game of chess. He told me
that he cannot be contacted except by long distance telephone calls but that
his word was as good as gold and that he would be at the library every
second Friday with his chess game. Throughout 1986 and 1987 except for the
summer of 1987 we met every second Friday of every month without fail. He
is an extremely brilliant man who was always talking about paradoxes and
unsolvable problems that he knew the answers for. While I went to British
Columbia for 1988 and 1989, I returned in 1990 to complete my degree. For
the fun of it I returned to the library on the second friday of January 1990
and there I found him once again. We gave each other a warm hug and agreed
to meet on fridays and Saturdays for chess games. The amazing thing is that
while I shared myself and my family problems he always kept his discussions
on the surface. I didn't know where he lived, if he was married or anything
except that he loved to play chess and talk endlessly about theorems and
scientific mumbo jumbo. In April, I finallyhad completed my degree and on
our second to last chess match he took me to his car and asked me to come
inside and there he told me about the film. He promised me that when his
aunt passes away, he'll show the film to me to see if there is anything on
there. Five years passed and I didn't hear zip from him but then I got a
phone call from him in December 1995. This was quite surprising indeed and
it was amazing but I could instantly recognize his voice. I told him that I
would be in Philadelphia on March 16 to watch the Flyers play a game of
hockey. We agreed to meet at the Holiday Inn on Packer in the lobby
irrespective of whether I could book a room there or not. On March 15th, I
received a phone call from him and he agreed to meet me in the lobby at
11:30pm. I flew down to Philly and watched the game and then waited for him
in the lobby as the game was over at 10:40 and it was only a ten minute walk
to my hotel from the Spectrum. We went to my hotel room and he set up his
8mm projector and we showed the film off the side of the hotel room wall.
I had agreed previously that I would go on the Net to elicit responses as to
what to do. I wanted to see the film again or at least the last reel but he
declined and said that once copies are made, I would get my very own copy. I
asked him for his address but he said he lives from hotel to hotel. I asked
him how he makes his cash and he said that he received insurance monies from
his father's death and mothers estate and had wisely invested it. I would
presume that he is a multi-millionaire. We agreed to correspond by coded
newsgroup postings. I would code and he would decipher. Then, he would
correspond with me through coded postcards which were recieved from Phoenix,
Baton Rouge, Biloxi, and St. Petersburg. I deciphered these and ripped them
up and deposited them in garbage cans. His last message was that he believed
that my phone was tapped and my apartment bugged. He said he hired 5 private
investigators to follow me around and said that I was followed on the City
buses for which I travel through the city and the investigators he hired
were very expensive and thouroughly skilled in counter surveillance. My
friend is extremely intelligent and appears to have a thorough grounding in
police type activities. He could be a former cop or was in the US armed
services. He mentioned to me once that he got in trouble with the law in the
late 1970's. He is apparently very rich and also has some lung problems. I
can describe him for you exactly and if there was ever a mug shot of him I
could nail him for you. However, I dont have an address or a phone number or
a last name but he calls himself Tony. He is very charismatic and sticks out
in a crowd. He has threatened to take the film with him to the grave and I
have seen the last of him for sure. I can describe to you what I saw and
maybe with enough information from my memories we could find him but I
believe it would take the services of professionals. The bottom line is lets
find him and get the film. I know he'll never contact me again as he always
keeps his word and he would be too smart for that as he was beginning to
think that I was some how on the side of the CIA being a paid informant.
He's gone for good but the memories remain. If you want I could meet you on
Thursday or Friday afternoon in downtown London.
I'll be returning your response on Wednesday so lets make a tentative time
for Thursday at 1:00 at Sebastian's on Richmond Street. I'll be there just
confirm and I'll read tomorrow. Friday at the same time is good as well as
is anytime in the afternoon either day until 5:00.

Sincerely,

Wynn.

p.s. What was on the film you will not believe and I'll tell you all but
without
the film I'm like any one else on the street who could have concocted all of
this in his mind. However, I've got better things to do with my time then
spin tales and what my goal is at present is geting my graduate degree and
grabbing the film. I wonder if there is any finders award if we do get the
film. How do we pry the film from my friends hands. We can find him but then
what. Groden would have to meet with him. Money won't convince my friend
either. We'll haveto talk about all of this.
Wynn Gerald Hamonic
Graduate School of Library and Information Science

Wynn,

Thanks for your latest reply. Your detailed account about how you met Tony
was very
informative. However, I'm afraid it's not much help in assertaining his
identity or his current location. I would think our meeting is premature
unless he contacts you again with information as to how he can be found.
Based on your last message, he
isn't about to do that anytime soon. So for now, I suggest we go on the
assumption
that it's a lost cause and move on. However if he does see the wisdom of
contacting
you again I will be available for consultation.

Regards,

Rick 

Meeting the Student

May 12, 1996 was the agreed upon date for our meeting. I took no notes during our first conversation. The student was about six feet tall, give or take a few inches. He was of slender build with light brown wavy hair, neither short nor long. His hair was thinning above his forehead indicating premature male pattern baldness.

He asked me for identification. "I just want to make sure you are who you say you are." As he jotted down my driver's license number, he claimed he would have a private detective check it out. The student explained he felt he was being followed, believed his phone was bugged and his apartment had been searched. He asked me if I believed him and I said, "Anything's possible." In order to gain his confidence, I produced a series of photos and letters proving my interest in the JFK assassination. He seemed impressed and as we continued with a series of followup meetings I sensed he was beginning to trust me.

Over our series of meetings, I was able to compile a sketch of the student's background. He says he was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on December 25, 1963. He lived there until the age of 12, when his family moved to Kamloops, B.C. He attended the College of Great Falls, Montana to obtain his bachelor degree in paralegal studies. The student later moved to London, Ontario, Canada to get his degree at the Graduate School of Library and Information at Western University. This is where I first met him.

Our interviews were conducted on two consecutive Sundays at a shopping plaza in London with some subsequent followup meetings and phone calls. He did not have the film and said it belonged to a casual acquaintance of his. This friend's relatives were the ones who had made the film, he said.

The Man With the Film

It was at the public library in Great Falls that the student said he first met the man with the film. Known only as "Tony," he was reading a chess book and the two soon began a conversation about their mutual interest in the board game. From that point on they usually met once a month, always on a Friday, making arrangements for their next meeting at the end of their current one. The student gave his phone number to Tony, but Tony never gave the student his phone number.

The following description of Tony is from the student. He's about 5' 6" tall, and wore a lot of jewelry, mainly rings. One ring may have had the initials "T.P." on it. The student felt Tony lived a "kind of swinger" lifestyle, seemed to be a "ladies man" and "he travels around." He had a prominent nose and wore false teeth. Tony smoked cigarettes and obviously smoked too much. He would occasionally use a "puffer" to help his breathing and had some kind of lung ailment. He had a well-groomed black beard with a grey stripe running down from each corner of his mouth. Tony never had long hair but what he had was slicked back and receding at the temples. It was the impression of the student that Tony was from the Pacific Northwest United States. Tony hinted he had a record and had served time in prison. It seemed to the student that Tony may have been involved in some kind of fraud.

The student claims it was Tony's father and uncle who had made the film which eventually was passed to Tony after his aunt's death. Tony once told the student that JFK had visited Great Falls, Montana when Tony was a kid. The student asked me if Kennedy had indeed visited Great Falls. Consulting some JFK biographies in my collection, I found that JFK aides Kenny O'Donnell and Dave Powers wrote about a trip Kennedy made the last week of September 1963 through the Western states billed as a "conservation tour." They wrote, "We remember him going out of his way in Great Falls, Montana, to visit Mike Mansfield's elderly father..." And Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. wrote about JFK's "Journey to the West" in the fall of 1963, even quoting from a speech Kennedy delivered in Great Falls, Montana. To the student, it seemed Tony had admired JFK. Tony's aunt wanted him to have the film after she passed away because of this admiration.

The Rendezvous

The student learned of the film before he claims to have seen it. In April 1990, Tony mentioned the existence of the film to the student. He said he had never seen the film but his aunt had told him what it was without getting too specific. At this time, the aunt was still alive, but Tony said that when she would die, the film would pass to him. This was the last time the student would see Tony until the film was shown to him earlier this year although the student claims they communicated through a "Salt and Vinegar" newsgroup on the Internet.

Sometime around mid-December 1995, Tony allegedly phoned the student. He said his aunt had passed away and he now had the film. He offered to show the film if the student would meet him somewhere in the United States. The student said he was planning to attend an NHL hockey game in Philadelphia sometime in March 1996 but he hadn't made the final arrangements yet. "Once you make your plans," Tony said, "I'll bring the film with me to Philadelphia." The student says Tony still had not seen the film by this time and to this day, the student questions why Tony didn't look at it before they met in March 1996.

Tony phoned the student again later in December 1995. The student gave him the details of his trip now that final arrangements had been made. Tony had said he would arrive in Philadelphia at 2pm. They agreed to meet in the lobby of the student's hotel after the hockey game. The student claims the date for the meeting was Saturday March 16, 1996 and the Philadelphia Flyers were playing the Winnipeg Jets. I checked back issues of a local newspaper at the public library to verify the student's claim. On March 16, the Flyers did indeed host the Jets and won the game 3-0. The next time I met the student, I again asked him about the game. He said the Flyers had won 4-0. His memory, three months after the game, was off by only one goal.

The student later told me he left from Toronto for Philadelphia on March 16, 1996 aboard an Air Canada flight that morning. He also gave me the name of the hotel he stayed at and said he had booked the arrangements through a travel company in Kamloops, British Columbia. On May 29, 1996, I phoned the hotel and they confirmed the student had indeed checked in on March 16 and left the next day. Without me asking, they volunteered the information that the reservation had been made from British Columbia.

The Film

When the student arrived in town, he took a cab to the hotel and checked in. After the game Tony showed up in the hotel lobby sometime around 11PM. Inside the hotel room they plugged in the projector and the film was produced. There were two reels contained inside small boxes. I gave the student a piece of paper and a pen and asked him to draw from memory a likeness of the boxes and their approximate size. He drew a box about 2-3/4" square and a little over 1/2" thick. I later placed a small reel of 8mm film that I have over the drawing and found this reel would have just about fit into the box the student drew. The boxes looked worn and were yellowish-orange in color with the reddish-colored words "Bell & Howell" across the middle. On the diagram, the student printed "Bell & Howell" rather than "Bell and Howell."

It was the student's impression that Tony's father, uncle and aunt were on some kind of vacation in Dallas in November 1963. The first reel of film showed family scenes, both indoor and outdoor. The student also described a sequence which he described as a "convention" of some sort. It's possible this may be a reference to the Bottler's Convention which had been held in Dallas during the week before JFK's assassination. I offer this speculation since the student used the word "convention" rather than "parade" to describe the film scene. Use of the word "parade" would suggest the JFK motorcade. The rest of the first reel contained scenes of the family walking around Dallas, "basically, just tourist shots," recalled the student.

The camera used to record the film was a Bell & Howell, according to what the student had been told. Tony said the camera had an "excellent, super" lens, more powerful than the regular camera lens. The student was under the impression that Tony's uncle, or possibly Tony's father, had adapted the lens to zoom in closer than usual. The modification was made because the uncle (the presumed camera owner) was an experienced photographer. The student seemed to recall something about him being a wildlife photographer --- someone who needed to make photographic closeups from a distance. The student also said he thought the film was super 8mm, but could have been regular 8mm. If the film the student saw was on super 8mm, I thought this raised four possibilities: 1) the student is mistaken about the size of the film, 2) the film, originally shot on regular 8mm, was later copied onto super 8mm film, 3) the film and camera were being used experimentally by a professional photographer, 4) or the story is an elaborate hoax since super 8mm film was not available to the general public until November 1965.

The Second Reel

The second reel of film is the one of interest. According to the student, neither reel contained leader film, the few seconds of extra film spliced onto the beginning of a reel to allow the film to be threaded through the projector without losing the first sequence from viewing. Usually, this leader film contains a sequence of numbers counting down to the beginning of the film about to be shown.

At our first meeting I showed the student a diagram of Dealey Plaza along with several overhead photographs of the area. I asked him to point out where the cameraman seemed to be standing. He pointed to an area just off to the right of the diagram and said, "Here." The area would have been the intersection of Houston and Commerce Streets near the Union Terminal Building. The student asked me if there had been a post office near there. I informed him there was. He later told me the uncle had once said a post office had been to his right. The family car had been parked further south down Houston Street past the Houston/Commerce intersection.

The student said the reel began with a scene of some of the family members walking down Commerce Street with the cameraman further down the street, the post office to his right. The cameraman continued filming as he walked up to the southwest corner of the intersection. Once he arrived at that location he turned to his left and filmed the general area of Main and Houston before he stopped filming.

Looking at the diagram of Dealey Plaza, the student pointed to the Main and Houston area and said there had been someone standing on a pedestal filming with their back to the camera. As he said this, the student made a panning motion from right to left. At first, I thought he might have been mistaken about the location and was referring to Abraham Zapruder. But I quickly realized that Zapruder had been panning from left to right when he filmed the assassination. It seems the student was accurately describing Charles Bronson who had indeed been in that area on a pedestal and would have been panning from right to left as he followed the limousine's turn onto Houston Street.

Perhaps realizing the crowd would block any good view of JFK, the cameraman stopped filming and walked down Commerce street. The next sequence appeared to be slightly elevated indicating the cameraman was filming from near the south pergola in Dealey Plaza. The cameraman tried to zoom in on the motorcade as the limousine moved up Houston Street. As the motorcade turned onto Elm, the cameraman zoomed in on one the buildings at that intersection, either the Book Depository or the Dal-Tex Building. The student seemed to believe the building was probably the Dal-Tex Building.

At our first meeting, the student pointed on to the intersection of Houston and Elm on the diagram and said, without naming them, "this building and this building" --- the TSBD and Dal-Tex Buildings --- were visible in the film. The cameraman zoomed in on the Dal-Tex Building and the student said people could be seen in some of the windows. James Altgens' fifth photo confirms this, showing spectators in some of the second floor windows.

As the limousine continued down Elm Street, the cameraman zoomed in on the car and filmed the assassination. According to the student, he could make out everyone in the limousine. I asked him where in the car JFK was sitting and he replied that it seemed JFK was at the far end of the car. That's just where he would have been given the alleged position of the cameraman and the view he would have had.

The film also shows Mrs. Kennedy climbing onto the trunk of the limo. The student asked me if the limousine had stopped on Elm Street. I replied the car had slowed down just before the fatal shot was fired and that some of the other footage of the shooting shows a rear brake light on the limousine coming on.

After the shooting, he says the camera zoomed out and caught the scene of panic in the plaza. The student described a man with his son standing on the far side of Elm Street. This is most likely Bill Newman and should not be confused with Charles Brehm. Newman was standing with one of his sons on what would appear from the camera angle to be the far side of Elm Street. The student added that the man and his son "dove for cover." There were some closeups of several different people in the plaza.

The last sequence showed a bus "zipping by" on Elm Street. At our first meeting, the student seemed puzzled by this, wondering why a bus would be travelling down the street, apparently so soon after the shooting. I then showed him some of the Wilma Bond photos and explained that there had been a couple of buses in the motorcade carrying members of the press.

By the student's best estimate, the film of Dealey Plaza lasts about two minutes. About one minute contains footage before the shooting, while the rest of the film shows the assassination and the aftermath in the plaza.

He said the two men watched the film only once. The student said Tony appeared "shaken" by the film and neither said anything for awhile, absorbing the impact of what they had seen.

During their meeting in Philadelphia, Tony told the student he had a "terminal disease" and did not have long to live. Tony said he didn't know what to do with the film and asked the student to "put it on the Net" to see if he could try and find some more information. At one point, Tony considered abandoning the film and threatened to take it to his grave.

Final Thoughts by Randy Owen

I tended to believe the story the student had told me. If asked, I would have said that I was 90 to 95% convinced he was telling the truth. I admit his recollection about the size of the film caused problems for me and it also seemed strange that he would continue a casual acquaintance with Tony without getting Tony's phone number or last name. Having worked in a downtown office building for nine years, I myself made casual acquaintances with other people in the building never to know their last names.

I didn't think the student was perpetrating a hoax. He seemed genuine to me and some of the details of his story did indeed check out.

When I first called Wynn, he told me over the phone that the film was in black and white. But when I first met him, he said it was color. I asked him about this and he said the color on the film had faded to the point where for all practical purposes it almost appeared as a black and white film.

I asked Wynn (after he confessed that this was all a hoax) if he ever did have a private detective check me out. He said, "No."

He still claims he's being followed. I said, "Quite frankly now, I don't care. Once this story gets out, I wouldn't be surprised if you get hounded because I intend to release your name to the research community as a warning about you. And as far as your credibility goes, you just blew it."

Wynn says he did live in Great Falls, Montana for a time and by going through some old newspapers on microfilm, came up with the part of the story about JFK being in Montana when "Tony" was younger. Wynn also said he did go to a Flyers game on March 16. Looking back now, I realize that he was feeding me information which could be checked out and would seem to verify his story. But this was all information that directly had nothing to do with the film. It was a series of little vignettes that would seem to fit with the broad picture Wynn was painting.

The character of "Tony," Wynn said, was based on a family acquaintance named Tony Paynter who did have a minor criminal record. Paynter would sometimes use the name Wayne Markham.

Another area that, with hindsight, didn't make any sense, was why would "Tony" and Wynn only watch the film once? Seeing something like JFK getting shot, I would think, would pique someone's interest and see it again. Remember the Zapruder film? The first time I saw it, I wanted to see it again.

Wynn also got the details of the film boxes by going through an old Bell & Howell catalogue. Regarding the "super 8mm" size of the film, he confessed he didn't do enough research on that and made the mistake of saying the film was super 8.

Also in hindsight, the story about the post office should have seemed suspicious. When we first met, he asked me if there was a post office in the general area and pointed to the correct location on the diagram. At a later meeting, I asked him about that and he replied that the uncle had mentioned it. If the father and uncle died within a year of the assassination, that means the aunt would have continued the story about the location of the post office. It now seems to me that such a small, insignificant detail like that would have been long forgotten after 33 years.

Also, at one point I had asked Wynn if any of the buildings on the film seemed to stand out architecturally. He said, "No." In the back of my mind, I thought the unique features of the old courthouse would have stood out. But again, wanting to believe Wynn's story, I reasoned he was watching for JFK and the shooting, not paying attention to other details in the film.

One comment Wynn made to me after he confessed concerned a comment his mother had once made to him. According to Wynn, she said, "Sometimes, I don't even know who you are." We may not know who he is, but we know what he is. I believe he's a pathological liar.

Best Regards

Randy Owen
164 Belmont Ave., Apt. 13
Kitchener, Ont.
Canada N2M 1L8
(519) 576-7666

(JUNE 16TH,1996)
X-POP3-Rcpt: rnelson@connect
Return-Path: whamonic@julian.uwo.ca
X-NUPop-Charset: English
Date: Sun, 16 Jun 1996 17:48:19 -0500 (EST)
From: "wynn hamonic" 
Sender: whamonic@julian.uwo.ca
Reply-To: whamonic@julian.uwo.ca
To: rnelson@connect.reach.net
Subject: Formal Apology

Dear Rick:

By now I assume you have received the information from Randy regarding the
true nature of the film. Randy chuckled to himself and said it would have
been even better if I had hired an actor from the screen guild to play Tony
or had some how linked Tony to Nixon. Nonetheless, this was not done as a
practical joke. This was a deliberate and methodical plan to reveal to, for
lack of a better term, "the team" a brilliantly researched plot. It was two
years in the making. It meant many, many hours of backbreaking research. It
meant exposing myself to constant surveillance both electronic and
undercover. It meant adopting a whole new personality and using my acting
skills developed in drama class and for a short time making a British TV
commercial (Yorkie Chocolate Bars). It meant altering my diary with
references to Tony. It meant plenty of forethought. It meant devising a very
believable story wherein the more one investigated the more one became to
believe that the film did actually exist. In fact, the more my privacy was
invaded the more one fell "victim" to this "movie-type" story.

Yes, I am in library school soon to be graduating with a masters degree in
library and information science. But don't key in on the mild mannered
librarian aspect but the information scientist aspect.

I am quite bright and a recipient of numerous scholarships. I had the
highest G.P.A. entering UWO and was recently awarded a $2500 scholarship. My
IQ is clocked at around 170 though I personally believe it is much higher.
You can access my marks at The College of Great Falls. All my life I have
been fascinated with research and there has never been a research question I
could not overcome with the needed monies. Whether it be what socks one wore
in fifth grade on May 7, 1965 to where are Saddam Hussein's monetary assets
located, I can locate information of this type.

I really believe that I have so much talent to give. I don't want to be
stuck in some dead-end library job in Podunk, U.S.A.. Rather, I want to be
answering questions of extreme national urgency in which the
answer will mean millions of dollars and/or thousands of lives saved.
My research skills are limitless.

Finally, I do not take any pleasure in verbal deception. My credibility
and my honor comes before even my life. I have to admit that I was so
determined and driven to "pull this one off" that I sacrificed my own values
of honesty and forthrightness. I never meant to hurt anyone. Never. I never
meant to waste anyone's time. I never meant to dash anyone's hopes. I just
wanted to show to "the team" while the spotlight was on that I could come up
with a cunning masterfully researched idea that could fool everyone. I am
willing to pay my debt to those I have injured by way of research and work.
I just really wanted a research position, a position where I could amaze and
astound and answer some of the most puzzling questions that even "the Team"
couldn't answer. I know I can do this type of work because I have an
ingenious and creative mind and the uncanny ability to peer into the minds
of others to see where they are at and examine areas where no one has
thought of.

Well that is about it. Once again I am sorry. You seem like a real nice
guy and it was a pleasure speaking to you. Despite what has happened I hate
to lie. I just so desperately wanted to impress. Looking back on the entire
escapade, it was all quite a crazy affair. If I had to do it all over I
would not have gone down this path especially since the President was
involved among others. But now the deed has been done and I have to live
with it. Nonetheless, my ambition and enthusiasm to do humanity good has not
been tempered and I strive forward eager to astound and amaze.

Sincerely yours,

Wynn

Wynn Gerald Hamonic
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
(HOME ADDRESS)
1008-120 Cherry Hill Dr.
London, Ontario
N6H 4N9
519-858-8388 

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