The first Dallas meeting of Dealey Plaza UK was held on Sunday, November 24, 1996 at the Dallas Grand Hotel. At 1:30 pm, Chairman Richard Livingstone called the meeting to order, adding that he hopes to have further meetings in Dallas.
Four speakers addressed the meeting. Each had spoken at the JFK-Lancer conference in the preceding days, but selected a different topic for this day.
First was George Michael Evica, who discussed his theory of "body swapping" to explain the differences in wound descriptions between the Dallas and Bethesda doctors. Specifically, he cited the discrepancy in the accounts of the chest tube incisions made in Dallas. According to Evica, the autopsy personnel did not notice the incisions or disruption to the interior chest wall caused by the trocars to assist in the introduction of the tubes. He determined that four possibilities for the inconsistencies exist:
Dealey Plaza UK Secretary Ian Griggs named Martin Shackelford as the group's first honorary member, "for his unstinting work in furtherance of the group's ideals over many years."
Shackelford's presentation dealt with a scale similar to that used by prosecutors, and determined that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute Lee Harvey Oswald.
Craig Roberts' presentation was a potpourri covering a variety of areas. He began by noting that the back of the scope in the backyard photos was cut at an angle, unlike that of the rifle in evidence. He also discussed a windage knob on the scope which is in a different location in the photo than on the evidence rifle. He concluded that the scope was superimposed onto the photo, as it is incorrectly mounted and inconsistent with the alleged murder weapon.
Roberts noted that the Air Force One used for the Texas trip had a tail number of 26000 (it should be noted that Air Force One is the name given to any airplane on which the President is riding). The photos of 26000 at Love Field and Andrews Air Force Base show a ventral fin under the tail. The fin is abnormal for the Boeing 707, and is only present on the 720. Both earlier and later photos show 26000 to be a 707, but the plane in Texas was apparently a 720. The Air Force claims that the fins were removed from 707 in 1968, yet Boeing denies manufacturing a 707 with ventral fins. 26000 was photographed at Hickam Field, Hawaii in 1994, again with fins. He noted that the model 720B contains a trap door leading from the rear area of the passenger compartment to the luggage compartment. This luggage compartment could have been used for either a location for body alterations, or it could be used to access another door, which lead out the right side of the aircraft. If the body was dropped out this second door, it could have been removed to Walter Reed Army Hospital, as the diary of the unit which maintained 26000 reflects. This would also explain the scratches on the President's back, as evident in the autopsy photographs. Roberts added that if the 720 had been substituted for the 707, the pilot would know, and would have to be provided with a cover story.
Roberts briefly spoke of the Oklahoma City Bombing Investigation, with which he has been involved since the day after the explosion. He noted that Timothy McVeigh had worked in Black Operations while in the military. Seismic data indicates three separate explosions rather than a single blast from the alleged truck bomb. He advised those present to watch the McVeigh and Nichols trials, as there will be parallels to the Kennedy case which become evident. As with Oswald, "Lee Harvey McVeigh"'s prosecution will involve evidence suppression. Additional parallels can be seen in the nine witnesses which have died in the last year and a half.
Hal Verb talked about what he called "Oswald and the Paper Trail to ONI: Footprints in the Land of Intelligence." Verb stated that Marguerite Oswald believed her son to be an intelligence agent, and may have even hinted at ONI. Oswald's alleged identification number was 110-169, and Verb is currently looking at newly declassified documents in an attempt to find references to this number. He also related a story in which he and Harold Weisberg were guests on a radio call in show in the mid to late 1960's. During this show, an anonymous caller stated that Oswald had crypto clearance, and spent his last two to three weeks in the Marines being briefed on an overseas mission at CID offices. Verb is currently trying to identify the caller.
Former Carousel Club dancer and bar maid Shari Angel took questions from the audience. She explained that the late Jada had replaced her in September 1963 when Angel had to leave due to illness. However, before leaving, she observed Oswald in the club on three occasions, during one of which he was knocked unconscious by Ms. Angel's husband, Wally Weston. Apparently, Oswald was "crazy about" another of Ruby's dancers, Kathy Kay.
According to Angel, Ruby not only entertained members of the Dallas Police and County Sheriff's Office, but maintained a separate stock of liquor for these guests. Staff members faced the Ruby rage if they charged these special guests for the drinks served. Additionally, Chicago mafia members occasionally flew in for an evening at the Carousel. Apparently, Ruby's skills as an entertainer paid off, as Angel said Sheriff Decker was very nice to Ruby, even though he "could get wild." Angel said she did not believe Ruby's claim that he was being slowly murdered with cancer cell injections. She said that he eventually lost his grip on reality, saying at one point that "all the Jews were dead." Angel was present when Ruby died at Parkland in January 1967, breaking down and saying only that "it's just so sad."
The meeting concluded with Chairman Livingstone thanking all in attendance, and all was adjourned at 5:00 pm.
Note: The author wishes to extend his most sincere appreciation to Martin Shackelford for his graciously providing copies of his notes from the meeting. These remarkably detailed notes were an invaluable supplement to my own notes and recollections.
Final note: Fourteen members of DPUK attended the JFK-Lancer conference in Dallas. Fair Play editor John Kelin snapped the above photograph of some of them, shortly after the assassintion anniversary observance in Dealey Plaza on November 22. Pictured above, left to right: at back - Paul Holland, Mick Merrington, Patrick Silke, Rick Caster (DPUK Treasurer). In front - Jonathan Notman (DPUK Membership Secretary/Webmaster), Richard Livingstone (DPUK Chairman).
(Thanks to Ian Griggs for identifying the DPUK members pictured above. And, I'm sorry I let Ian get away before taking the photo! --- JK.)
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