top of page

Things that don't matter


I want to conclude the conversation me and Paul are having about George de Mohrenschildt because really, I don't think he matters. He's a distraction.

I learned to say I think de Mohrenschildt doesn't matter after talking with Paul Trejo. He told me that whatever happened with Lee Harvey Oswald in the Soviet Union, it doesn't much matter insofar as understanding the Kennedy assassination. This was shocking. In the world of JFK assassination researchers (or fans), Oswald in Russia is a cherished pillar in his highly complex, CIA-sponsored conspiracy. Because Paul said Russia isn't so important, I feel comfortable today saying de Mohrenschildt isn't so important. The assassination is overwhelmed with details that are not critical to unmasking the guilty party.

I met Paul last year around this time on a JFK assassination discussion forum. In those days I would have said JFK was killed by angry anti-Castro Cubans, and the CIA, and the mafia, and elite snipers from Europe, and wealthy Texas oil men. In other words, I had adopted something from every book I read about the assassination and ended up with the conclusion that everyone was guilty.

Coincidentally with meeting Paul, I began a research project for the Mary Ferrell Foundation (MFF), which operates the most comprehensive online resource of assassination documents and related material. I helped catalog and provide summary data for the newly released JFK documents of 2017 under the direction of Rex Bradford, head of the MFF.

When I got deep into the raw data of CIA and FBI documents held back partially or in full for years I discovered something. 95% of it just doesn't matter.

Because assassination researchers read so many books that say anti-Castro Cubans and the CIA were involved in the assassination, we are now in document overload. The government archivists give us everything about the CIA versus Castro, which is miles and miles of cables, files, and memoranda.

Almost none of it matters. The CIA poured a hundred million dollars into the Miami area in the early 1960s, desperately trying to sponsor anti-Castro Cubans who might overthrow Castro. It never worked. The Cubans took the money, had a good time playing war games, and did almost nothing. We're left with the paperwork hangover of US-government-sized proportions - and 1000s of pages irrelevant to the JFK assassination. With that said, at the fringes of the anti-Castro efforts were guys at the fringes of the anti-JFK effort. But these were fringe elements; the authors of the Kennedy assassination were not operationally involved in the Cuban shenanigans centered in south Florida.

After thumbing through 10,000 CIA and FBI documents, I feel empowered to say we should cull down JFK research to the essentials and stop all the endless games of assuming facts not in evidence. We need to say what does and does not matter. Oswald in Russia probably doesn't matter. George de Mohrenschildt probably doesn't matter.

What does matter? The steps used in solving a murder - any murder. Employing the standards of homicide investigation lead us in a fresh new direction.

Instead of concentrating on motive like the entire JFK research community - I ask you to focus on basic criminology. Is this an organized or disorganized crime? What does the weapon used tell us about the criminal(s)? What does the crime scene tell us about the murderer(s)? How often do young men in the teens or early 20s commit murder or any serious crime successfully, and get away with it?

I'll address what I think is important in the JFK assassination later today in my next blog post and get Paul to color in some details.

bottom of page