Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country's Most Controversial Cover-Ups by Richard Belzer, David Wayne Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Richard Belzer, David Wayne
his path to the presidency was littered with dead bodies and highly questionable circumstances. None was more obvious than Agricultural Inspector Henry Marshall, who had uncovered a huge financial scandal leading directly to LBJ’s doorstep.
Marshall, in his capacity as a U.S. Department of Agriculture Investigator, saw through a false paper trail and uncovered the fact that Billie Sol Estes was receiving millions of dollars in federal agricultural subsidies for crops of cotton that were non-existent. The profits raked in from the scheme represented a major source of Lyndon Johnson’s political funding.
One thing that can, however, be said of Lyndon Johnson, is that he attempted simpler solutions prior to employing the use of murder. When Marshall got too close to the big financial scam that Johnson’s associate Billie Sol Estes was running, Johnson apparently arranged for a fat promotion for Marshall to the Washington, D.C. office of the Department of Agriculture. Perceiving it as a bribe, Marshall refused the promotion and continued his efforts to prosecute the corruption he had discovered. That refusal was apparently tantamount to signing his death warrant.
Billie Sol Estes has testified that he had a meeting with Lyndon Johnson and his closest associates, Cliff Carter and Ed Clark, on January 17, 1961, and the purpose was to discuss what to do about Marshall, since he refused the promotion to Washington. Lyndon Johnson reportedly made the decision: “It looks like we’ll just have to get rid of him.” 23 It was also decided at that meeting that the assignment was to be given to Mac Wallace, who was a hit man used by Johnson.
On June 3, 1961, Marshall was found dead next to his pickup truck on a remote portion of his farm.
Early in 1962, several months after Henry Marshall’s death, Billie Sol Estes was arrested by the FBI and officially charged with fraud and conspiracy. That arrest inspired the Robertson County Grand Jury to order that the body of Marshall be exhumed and autopsied. The autopsy revealed that Marshall had suffered a severe blow to the head prior to his death and had an extremely high level of carbon monoxide in his body prior to the gunshots. The suicide ruling was overturned.
It should be noted that even morally-challenged FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover took pause on the impossibility of the initial death ruling, writing that:
“I just can’t understand how one can fire five shots at himself.” 24
Senator John McClellan also later concluded:
“It doesn’t take many deductions to come to the irrevocable conclusion that no man committed suicide by placing the rifle in that awkward position and then cocking it four times more.” 25
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Texas Connection: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, Craig I. Zirbel, 1991 Captain People, Texas Ranger: Fifty Years a Lawman, James M. Day, 1980
A Texan Looks at Lyndon, J. Evetts Haley, 1964
Captain People, Texas Ranger: Fifty Years a Lawman, James M. Day, 1980
JFK and Sam, Antoinette Giancana, John R. Hughes, DM OXON, MD, PHD & Thomas H. Jobe, MD, 2005
“Henry Marshall,” John Simkin, Spartacus Educational. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKmarshallH.htm
“Did LBJ Order the Killing of Henry Marshall?,” John Simkin, Education Forum, January 30, 2006, http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index .php?showtopic=5988
“Letter to Stephen S. Trott, U.S. Department of Justice”, Douglas Caddy, August 9, 1984
“Interview with Douglas Caddy,” John Simkin, January 20, 2006
“The Killing of Henry Marshall”, Bill Adler, November 7, 1986, The Texas Observer
“Convicted Swindler Billie Sol Estes,” David Hanners & George Kuempel, March 24, 1984, Dallas Morning News, http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKmarshallH.htm
----
23 John Simkin, “Clifton C. Carter: Biography,” Spartacus Educational, http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKcarter.htm (accessed 14 Mar. 2011)
24 John Simkin, “Billie Sol Estes: Biography,”
Marshall, in his capacity as a U.S. Department of Agriculture Investigator, saw through a false paper trail and uncovered the fact that Billie Sol Estes was receiving millions of dollars in federal agricultural subsidies for crops of cotton that were non-existent. The profits raked in from the scheme represented a major source of Lyndon Johnson’s political funding.
One thing that can, however, be said of Lyndon Johnson, is that he attempted simpler solutions prior to employing the use of murder. When Marshall got too close to the big financial scam that Johnson’s associate Billie Sol Estes was running, Johnson apparently arranged for a fat promotion for Marshall to the Washington, D.C. office of the Department of Agriculture. Perceiving it as a bribe, Marshall refused the promotion and continued his efforts to prosecute the corruption he had discovered. That refusal was apparently tantamount to signing his death warrant.
Billie Sol Estes has testified that he had a meeting with Lyndon Johnson and his closest associates, Cliff Carter and Ed Clark, on January 17, 1961, and the purpose was to discuss what to do about Marshall, since he refused the promotion to Washington. Lyndon Johnson reportedly made the decision: “It looks like we’ll just have to get rid of him.” 23 It was also decided at that meeting that the assignment was to be given to Mac Wallace, who was a hit man used by Johnson.
On June 3, 1961, Marshall was found dead next to his pickup truck on a remote portion of his farm.
Early in 1962, several months after Henry Marshall’s death, Billie Sol Estes was arrested by the FBI and officially charged with fraud and conspiracy. That arrest inspired the Robertson County Grand Jury to order that the body of Marshall be exhumed and autopsied. The autopsy revealed that Marshall had suffered a severe blow to the head prior to his death and had an extremely high level of carbon monoxide in his body prior to the gunshots. The suicide ruling was overturned.
It should be noted that even morally-challenged FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover took pause on the impossibility of the initial death ruling, writing that:
“I just can’t understand how one can fire five shots at himself.” 24
Senator John McClellan also later concluded:
“It doesn’t take many deductions to come to the irrevocable conclusion that no man committed suicide by placing the rifle in that awkward position and then cocking it four times more.” 25
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Texas Connection: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, Craig I. Zirbel, 1991 Captain People, Texas Ranger: Fifty Years a Lawman, James M. Day, 1980
A Texan Looks at Lyndon, J. Evetts Haley, 1964
Captain People, Texas Ranger: Fifty Years a Lawman, James M. Day, 1980
JFK and Sam, Antoinette Giancana, John R. Hughes, DM OXON, MD, PHD & Thomas H. Jobe, MD, 2005
“Henry Marshall,” John Simkin, Spartacus Educational. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKmarshallH.htm
“Did LBJ Order the Killing of Henry Marshall?,” John Simkin, Education Forum, January 30, 2006, http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index .php?showtopic=5988
“Letter to Stephen S. Trott, U.S. Department of Justice”, Douglas Caddy, August 9, 1984
“Interview with Douglas Caddy,” John Simkin, January 20, 2006
“The Killing of Henry Marshall”, Bill Adler, November 7, 1986, The Texas Observer
“Convicted Swindler Billie Sol Estes,” David Hanners & George Kuempel, March 24, 1984, Dallas Morning News, http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKmarshallH.htm
----
23 John Simkin, “Clifton C. Carter: Biography,” Spartacus Educational, http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKcarter.htm (accessed 14 Mar. 2011)
24 John Simkin, “Billie Sol Estes: Biography,”
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