DOCUMENT INSERT: 12/3/67. Bug-extract transcript. Marked: "Confidential"/"Stage-1 Covert"/"Eyes Only": Director, SA D. C. Holly.
Location: Card room/Grapevine Tavern/St. Louis/listening-postaccessed. Speaking: Norbert Donald Kling & Rowland Mark DeJohn, paroled felons (Armed Robbery/Bunco/GTA) & presumed organized-crime associates. (Conversation 14. 1 minutes in progress.)
NDK: And people hear, you know. Word goes out.
RMDJ: It's like the name of this place. The Grapevine.
NDK: Yeah. The grape for the ape.
RMDJ: Guys come through, they hear, they start thinking.
NDK: They think, shit, 50 G's for a good deed, and it don't go unrewarded.
RMDJ: You do it down south, no jury would convict you.
NDK: You're right. It's like those guys in Mississippi. They wax those civil rights humps and walk scot-free.
NDK: You know who I saw here? Like in May?
RMDJ: Who?
NDK: Jimmy Ray. I bought goofballs off him in Jeff City.
RMDJ: I heard he broke out.
NDK: He did. He breaks out, then he's disappointed that there's no big manhunt.
RMDJ: That's Jimmy in a nutshell. Hey, world, notice me.
NDK: He hates niggers. You got to give him that.
RMDJ: He was tight with the guards. At Jeff City, I mean. I never liked that about him.
NDK: The guards were klanned-up. That was the attraction to Jimmy.
RMDJ: That one guard was a pisser. Remember him? Bob Relyea.
NDK: Bob the Brain. Jimmy called him that.
RMDJ: I heard he's klanned-up down south now.
NDK: Kianned-up and a snitch is what I heard. As in, he works for the Feds.
RMDJ: That could be. Remember, he left Jeff and joined the Army.
NDK: Jimmy said he might go see him.
RMDJ: Jimmy's a talker. He always talked about a whole lot of things.
NDK: He heard about the bounty. He nearly bust a gut talking about that.
RMDJ: Talk's talk. Jimmy said he fucked Marilyn Monroe, which don't mean he really did it.
(Non-applicable conversation follows.)
DOCUMENT INSERT: 12/3/67. Bug-extract transcript. Marked: "Confidential" / "Stage-1 Covert" / "Eyes Only": Director, SA D. C. Holly.
Location: Office/Mike Lyman's Restaurant/Los Angeles/listening-post-accessed. Speaking: Unidentified Males #1 & #2, presumed organized-crime associates. (Conversation 1.9 minutes in progress.)
UM #1: . . . you've heard the stories, right?
UM #2: Just glimmers. Carlos knows they're on the boat, so he sends some guys to the Keys.
UM #1: Not just any guys. He sends Chuck the Vice and Nardy Scavone.
UM #2: Oh, Jesus.
UM #1: You have to assume that he wanted to prolong things. It is well known that Chuck and Nardy work slow.
UM #2: I have heard the stories, believe me.
UM #1: Here's the good part. You'll like it.
UM #2: So tell me. Don't be a fucking cock-tease.
UM #1: Okay, they spot the boat. It's docked someplace quiet. They sneak up quiet and climb on board.
UM #2: Come on, don't string it-- UM #1: Arden and Danny see them coming. Danny starts bawling and saying rosaries. Arden's got a gun. She shoots Danny in the back of the head to put him out of his misery. She aims at fucking Chuck and Nardy, but the fucking gun jams.
UM #2: Fuck, that is rich. That is just-- UM #1: Chuck and Nardy grab her and tie her down. Caries wants to know why they rabbited and did someone tip them off. Chuck's got his vice in a toolbox. He puts Arden's head in. He leans on the handle, but Arden won't give it up.
UM #2: Jesus.
UM #1: He cracked all her teeth and broke her jaw. She still wouldn't talk.
UM #2: Jesus.
UM #1: She bit her tongue off. She couldn't talk if she wanted to, so Nardy capped her.
UM #2: Jesus.
(Non-applicable conversation follows).
DOCUMENT INSERT: 12/3/67. Pouch communique. To: Dwight Holly. From: Fred Otash. Marked: "Confidential"/"Eyes Only"/ "Read & Burn Immediately."
DH,.
Here's the summary on my dealings with the PROSPECT to date, including my reasoning on why I think we should use him. I hate writing things down, so READ & BURN IMMEDIATELY.
1 - Contact with PROSPECT established 8/16/67, at bar ("Acapulco") downstairs from PROSPECT's residence ("Har-K Apts") in Montreal. PROSPECT was using alias "Eric Starvo Galt." I utilized my fake appearance & Latin accent & used the alias "Raul Acias."
2 - At Acapulco I sold PROSPECT amphetamine capsules & posed as smuggler with segregationist leanings. PROSPECT & I met at Acapulco & Neptune Tavern over next several nights & discussed politics. PROSPECT admitted 2 recent robberies in states (East St. Louis, ill. & New Hebron, Miss.) but did not mention his 4/23/67 prison escape. PROSPECT stated that he also robbed a prostitute & pimp at a "fuck pad" in Montreal shortly after his arrival. He got $1,700 but was spending $ fast & would "soon be broke."
3 - PROSPECT discussed his need to secure ID which would allow him to get a Canadian passport & thus travel to other countries. I told him I had connections & would help him. I lent him small amounts of money, supplied him with amphetamines & discussed politics with him. He frequently mentioned his hatred of M. L. King & desire to "kill niggers in Rhodesia." I stalled him per the ID papers & continued to lend him $. PROSPECT became nervous & stated his desire to return to the states, go to Alabama & "Maybe go to work for Governor Wallace." I saw that he was determined to go & improvised a plan.
4 - I told him I had some narcotics for him to drive across the border & would pay him $1,200. He agreed to do the job. I filled a briefcase with sand, locked it & gave it to him, then met him on the American side. This was a test to see if he would steal the briefcase or would prove to be as compliant as I thought he would be.
5 - He passed the test & made 2 other "narcotics runs" for me. I saw that he was determined to drive to Alabama & told him I would get him his ID, a new car & more $, because I had more "jobs" for him to do. PROSPECT stated that he wanted to spend time in Birmingham, because of its history of "nigger bombings." I gave him $2,000 & told him to wait for a letter at Birmingham General Delivery. I also gave him a phone-drop # to call me at in New Orleans.
6 - This was the risk part of the operation, because there was a chance the PROSPECT would ditch out on me. If he didn't, it would confirm his pliable nature & suitable nature for our job.
7 - PROSPECT called phone-drop on 8/25 & gave his address as "Economy Grill & Rooms" in Birmingham. I mailed him $600 & a small supply of biphetamine capsules, flew to Birmingham & surveilled him from discreet distances. PROSPECT visited the National States Rights Party HQ, purchased right-wing leaflets & bumper stickers & holed up in his room. I called him (allegedly longdistance) & agreed to give him $2,000 (advance against future jobs) so he could buy a new car. I wired the $ to him & surveilled his purchase of a 1966 Mustang.
8 - PROSPECT secured an Alabama driver's license (9/6/67) under name "Eric Starve Galt" & registered the '66 Mustang. I met PROSPECT in Birmingham, drank & talked politics with him & told him to buy some camera equipment to sell in Mexico. PROSPECT purchased $2,000 worth of equipment, which I told him to "sit on."
9 - PROSPECT remained in Birmingham, took a locksmith's course & dance lessons & surreptitiously filmed women from his rooming-house window. I remained in Birmingham & took pains never to be seen with him. My plan was to situate PROSPECT in various places & give him orders that would sound ridiculous should he be captured & interrogated after our operation. PROSPECT's need for $ & amphetamines kept him beholden to me.
10 - I wrote PROSPECT on 10/6/67 & told him to meet me in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico with the camera equipment. PROSPECT agreed to meet me after he "fenced the goods." Again, I promised to secure him valid ID papers & added that I could get him a Canadian passport. PROSPECT met me in Nuevo Laredo with $ from the equipment he fenced, at a loss. I told him I was not mad & had more "narcotics runs" for him. PROSPECT was mad that I had not yet secured papers for him, but agreed to stay in Mexico & wait for my calls.
11 - PROSPECT traveled throughout Mexico by car & called me at phone-drop in New Orleans. I forwarded sums of $ to him at American Express offices & paid him for 4 "narcotics runs" from McAllen to Juarez. I met with PROSPECT 4 times from 10/22/67 to 11/9/67 & drew him out on political issues. PROSPECT described a "Bounty" offered thru the Grapevine Bar in St. Louis ($50,000 to kill MLK), which sounded like a fantasy but indicated that he might be willing to step up for D-Day, which would upgrade his role in our plan. PROSPECT was drinking heavily, taking amphetamines & smoking marijuana in Mexico & while there got into altercations with prostitutes & pimps. PROSPECT drove to Los Angeles (without calling me) & called with address on 11/21/67. He stated he wants more work from me, is taking self-hypnosis & self-improvement courses & is visiting "segregationist bookstores." He urged me to get him his passport papers as an "advance against future jobs."
12 - PROSPECT remains in L.A. I'm L.A.-based, so I'll be able to surveil him. PROSPECT remains pliable & I'm convinced he'll work for us. Have we got a date & or location yet?
I'll pouch again when required. Again, READ & BURN.
F.O.
DOCUMENT INSERT: 12/4/67. Pouch communique. To: Fred Otash. From: Dwight Holly. Marked: "Confidential"/"Eyes Only"/"Read & Burn."
F. O.,.
No date or location yet. Continue with PROSPECT. Will try to secure RED RABBIT's travel plans.
READ THIS & BURN.
D.C.H.
DOCUMENT INSERT: 12/4/67. Atlanta Constitution headline and subhead:
KING ANNOUNCES "POOR PEOPLE'S MARCH" ON WASHINGTON.
PLEDGES TO WORK FOR "REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH".
DOCUMENT INSERT: 12/5/67. Cleveland Plain Dealer headline and subhead:
KING ON SPRING MARCH:.
"TIME TO CONFRONT POWER STRUCTURE MASSIVELY".
DOCUMENT INSERT: 12/6/67. Verbatim FBI telephone call transcript. Marked: "Recorded at the Director's Request" / "Classified Confidential 1-A: Director's Eyes Only." Speaking: Director Hoover, President Lyndon B. Johnson.