Post by Rob Caprio on Jul 22, 2024 20:10:11 GMT -5
All portions are ©️ Robert Caprio 2006-2025
spartacus-educational.com/CRIbraden1.jpg
www.jfkassassinationgallery.com/albums/userpics/10001/normal_Eugene_Hale_Brading.jpg
An interesting character in the President John F. Kennedy (JFK) assassination saga is Eugene Hale Brading (a.k.a. Jim Braden) as he was in the company of Jack Ruby on November 21, 1963, went to the Hunt offices and was in Dealey Plaza (DP) at the time of the assassination. What was he doing there? Well, according to him he was using the telephone in the Dal-Tex Building.
Most of the information in this article is currently available on The JFK Assassination Board ©️, but after watching a podcast ("America's Untold Stories") from a year ago with Mark Groubert, I thought it was time to consolidate it into a single post as he claims no one has done a background on Braden before (with his caveat of to his knowledge). This information has been on this Board for years and other places for even longer. Just search "Brading" on this Board and you will see everything he covered in his podcast while saying he was probably "the only one to put these things together for Braden."
On September 9, 1963, Brading has a new driver's license made for himself in the name of "Jim Braden." The next day he will legally have it changed to Braden. Brading was an ex-convict, and this alone should have prohibited him from obtaining a license in a name that wasn't his or changing his name to something else as this hid his criminal record. Why would you let an ex-convict get a license to support his alias or new name which he could use to commit a crime of some type? I don't know, but California allowed it. This license will be a very important item for Brading on November 22, 1963, as he presented it to the Dallas authorities when he was detained and because it was brand new it had NO ties to any crimes.
IF the Dallas authorities had run his real name, Eugene Hale Brading, they would have found a long list of former crimes, so this license was very important for him. Why did he get this on September 9? Was he planning for what was to come?
On September 13, 1963, Brading met with his federal parole officer, Sam Barrett, and was given permission to go to Texas for ten days. Why would this permission be given to a man on parole? Federal parole to boot. Isn't part of being on parole making yourself available at any time to the parole officer? I thought so, but I guess not. Where did Brading go? He went to Houston for the whole ten days. This city is seen quite a few times in this case. (Hereafter he will be called Braden since he changed his name legally.)
Believe it or not, after spending ten days in Houston in September Braden was given permission to go back to Texas again in November. Why was a man on parole allowed to travel so much? On November 21, 1963, Braden arrived in Dallas, Texas, on "oil business." Why wasn't Braden asked about living in California if he was in the oil business? Was he not allowed to move? If not, why was he allowed to travel to Texas so often?
Braden was traveling with a man by the name of Morgan Brown who was also supposedly in the oil business, but he was really a con man. Both Braden and Brown checked into the Cabana Hotel on November 21, 1963, and they booked the room until November 24. On the afternoon of the 21st, Braden went to the Mercantile Bank Building which had offices for the Hunts in it. Why did Braden go there? Certainly his "oil business" was not on the level of the Hunts so why would he think they would see him?
As luck would have it (or it was planned) while Braden was there Jack Ruby also came to the building. Ruby was going out of his way to help a young college student, Connie Trammel, for some reason as he thought he could help her get a job at the Hunt offices. Why the super-rich Hunts had the time of day for either of these guys is the big question. For more on the Trammel story, please see this.
jfkconspiracyforum.freeforums.net/thread/1645/statements-sink-wcs-conclusions-474
The odds of Braden and Ruby being in the same building at the same time are astronomical as Braden shouldn't have even been in Dallas since he was on parole. His parole record mentioned a meeting with H.L. Hunt, a witness (Hunt Chief of Security Paul Rothermal) placed Braden and three friends at the offices of Lamar Hunt the afternoon before the assassination. Braden's presence in Hunt's office will be confirmed in a FBI report.
An interesting aside is that according to Hunt's former Chief Aide, John Currington, Marina Oswald met with H. L. Hunt two days before the shooting on November 20, 1963. What was this meeting about? So, we are asked to believe in the two days before the assassination the Hunt offices had Marina Oswald, Jim Braden and Jack Ruby visit and this means nothing?
Part of the responsibility of someone on parole is to check-in with a parole officer in the city they are visiting. Braden was interviewed by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) in 1977 and he told them about this.
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...On the day of his arrival in Dallas, he checked in with Roger Carroll at the Dallas Probation Office. At this time Brading was unaware that President Kennedy was coming to Dallas but had heard on the radio that Kennedy was in Fort Worth.
On the morning of the assassination of Kennedy, he left the company of some friends who stated they were going to see Hunt and on his way to the Probation Office, the Presidential motorcade passed him while he was standing in front of Titches department store. After the motorcade passed, he walked one block to the Federal Building, and on arrival and at that office found Probation Officer Carroll and a woman opening the door to the Probation Office. ...Brading signed in and then informed Carroll that his business in Dallas had terminated and he was leaving that day for Houston. (NARA Record Number: 124-10370-10013, p. 134; p. 1 in original)
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=9963#relPageId=134
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Is it a coincidence that Braden's business in Dallas had "terminated" the same time JFK had been?
During the late evening on the November 21, (the evening before the assassination) Jack Ruby just happened to visit the Cabana Hotel sometime around midnight. He would join a dinner party that included Lawrence Meyers, Edward Meyers, Ralph Meyers and Jean Aase. Ed Meyers had visited Mexico City during November 1963 to visit Ralph and of course Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO) was alleged to have visited there in late September to early October 1963. The Pepsi Cola Bottlers Association meeting being attended by Edward Meyers was also the same one Richard Nixon was in town for. Is this just another coincidence? The dinner party possibly grew to include another person of interest in this case — Jim Braden.
Since Braden used his credit card to pay for his drinks at the Bon Vivant Room it was easily clear to see he too was at the Cabana Hotel the night before JFK was murdered (he was checked in there). The Warren Commission (WC) covered this dinner meeting in their Report on page 334.
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www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wr/pages/WCReport_0179b.gif
On Thursday, November 21, 1963… Ruby conversed for about an hour with Lawrence Meyers, a Chicago businessman at the Carousel Club… Between 9:45 and 10:45 p.m., Ruby had dinner with his financial backer Ralph Paul… (then) about midnight Ruby rejoined Meyers at the Bon Vivant Room of the Dallas Cabana where they met Meyers’ brother and sister-in-law. (WCR, p. 334)
www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0179b.htm
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There is NO mention of Jim Braden being at this dinner. Why? What was the WC afraid of? What was discussed at this dinner? Who knows as the WC never investigated it in the slightest in an effort to try and find out. We are asked to believe that an ex-con had two run-ins with Ruby (who had mob ties) on November 21, 1963, and this was just a coincidence with no meaning. Sure.
For more about the Meyers, please see this article.
jfkconspiracyforum.freeforums.net/thread/277/statements-sink-wcs-conclusions-212
Investigative reporter Peter Noyes found out quite a few things from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He learned that Jim Braden was a suspected courier for the Meyer Lansky syndicate. Another person Lansky himself said he had worked with was Edward Meyers. The strange connections keep coming though as Lawrence Meyers had a companion on the night of November 21, 1963. Her name was Jean Aase (aka Jean West). Ms. Aase was an acquaintance of Jack Ruby’s too and he had met her earlier in the day at his club. Ms. Aase would be shopping at the time of the assassination with a dancer at Ruby’s club named Betty McDonald. She would return to Chicago with Lawrence Meyers and never would be questioned by the authorities about what she saw and heard on November 21 and 22, 1963.
Another odd thing pops up in this case when one looks at the layout of the Pierre Marquette Building in New Orleans. Attorney G. Wray Gill had an office in this building (room 1707) and he was representing Mafia boss Carlos Marcello in his deportation case (he would win the case on November 22, 1963). One of the men working on the case with him was David Ferrie who had been LHO’s Civil Air Patrol officer years earlier.
Peter Noyes found that Jim Braden was in and out of room 1701 in the weeks preceding the assassination. What was he doing there? During his investigation for the Clay Shaw trial Jim Garrison obtained the telephone records of Gill’s office to see what kind of calls were being made. Gill provided these and said that Ferrie made many calls, and many were “unauthorized.” It was noted that Ferrie had called Lawrence Meyers’ friend, Jean Aase, on the day LHO allegedly left for Mexico City.
The WC would also publish the calls made by Lawrence Meyers in September to November 1963 in Commission Exhibit (CE) 2350. In this document Garrison matched up a number (Whitehall 4 – 4970) with the Gill records showing Lawrence Edwards had called her as well (November 20, 1963). In October 1963, Meyers had been introduced to Ms. Aase by his business partner, Les Baker, and Meyers would describe her as “a party girl, playgirl, a dumb but accommodating broad and semi-professional hooker.” They would leave for Dallas on November 20, 1963, and stay at the Cabana Hotel.
CE 2350: www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh25/pages/WC_Vol25_0183a.gif
All these connections mean something, but the WC was not interested in any of this information. Were they going over the final details of the assassination at this dinner? Keep in mind, Jim Garrison discovered that Ralph Meyers had been in Army Intelligence so this could show us that we had a representative for the mob and an intelligence person at this dinner.
Braden said that he walked for a while and wound up at the railroad tracks (west end of DP). He said a building was surrounded by the police and their guns were pointing up. This was the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) Building, and someone told him that the person who shot JFK was in that building (NARA Record Number: 124-10370-10013, p. 134; p. 1 in original) How did this person know this so fast?
After hearing this news, Braden had a sudden urge to call his parents and looked for a telephone. He focused on the Dal-Tex Building after a woman passerby who worked there told him about a telephone on the third floor. He drew the attention of the elevator operator because he was not an employee, but he did not do this until the return trip. The elevator operator said nothing taking him to the third floor but on the return trip he was listening to a radio and became alarmed since Braden should not have been taken to the third floor. (Ibid., p. 135; p. 2 in original)
Feeling that Braden doesn't belong in the building the operator sought out a policeman, who detains Braden for questioning, bringing him to the Sheriff's office. They hold him for three or four hours and he gives a statement and then signs it. He tells them his name is Jim Braden, and that he is in Dallas on oil business. He shows them identification and explains he had entered the building in hopes of finding a telephone to call his mother. (Ibid.) By using the new name Braden, he hides his criminal record with reputed underworld ties. Would the Dallas Police Department (DPD) or the Sheriff's Office have handled him differently if they knew what his actual name was? A name with 35 arrests on his record!
We should certainly hope so. One person who should have known him by sight was Sheriff Bill Decker (who we saw had ties to Joseph Campisi) as he ran Braden out of town for embezzling money from rich widows. Why did Decker say nothing in 1963 when he surely would have known who Braden was? He was in his own Sheriff's Office for goodness' sake.
Braden then tells the HSCA that he was offered a ride by the Secret Service (SS) to his room at the Cabana Hotel! (Ibid.) Why in the heck would the SS be offering a ride to him? Were they doing this for all the people detained for questioning? That would seem highly doubtful so, why was the SS so anxious to get Braden out of there? Braden would fly out of Dallas on an eight o'clock flight to Houston. Doesn't this seem odd to you? (It of course doesn't IF Braden was involved in some way.)
Was the "oil business" a cover for Braden? Jim Garrison found out during his investigation into the assassination that Braden was a member of the ultra-conservative Petroleum Club. The HSCA would asked Braden about this when they deposed him.
Mr. Purdy. Mr. Braden, in connection with your oil business, did you ever know a man named George de Moreschild [sic]?
Mr. Braden. No, sir.
Mr. Purdy. Would it refresh your recollection to know he was a geologist?
Mr. Braden. No, sir. It would not refresh my recollection. I do not know a man by that name.
Mr. Purdy. The record indicates that you had some dealings with the Petroleum Club, I believe, of Los Angeles, is that correct?
Mr. Braden. I was a member of the Petroleum Club in Los Angeles until this book came out and I resigned. I was a member of the Petroleum Club in New Orleans and I resigned.
Mr. Purdy. Were you a member of the Petroleum Club in Dallas?
Mr. Braden. No, sir.
Mr. Purdy. Because of your membership in the other Petroleum Club, did you ever have occasion to visit the Dallas Petroleum Club?
Mr. Braden. I think I was there with my wife, Jean Dicentis, at that time. We had dinner there, yes.
Mr. Purdy. Did one of the members have to sponsor your visit there?
Mr. Braden. I was there with a former President of the Republic Bank and his wife.
Mr. Purdy. What was his name?
Mr. Braden. I cannot recall it. I would like to, but I can't. Mrs. Jean Burker in Rancho Santa Fe, California, would remember the name.
Mr. Purdy. Approximately when was that?
Mr. Braden. About 1966 or 1967, along those years. (HSCA Jim Braden Testimony, 5/16/1979, pp. 116-117)
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=19906#relPageId=116
This tells us that Braden had been a member of the Petroleum Club in two cities -- Los Angeles and New Orleans. He claimed that he visited the Dallas Petroleum Club (DPC), but not until years after the assassination. How do we know that this is true given Braden is an ex-con with 35 arrests on his very long record? Of course, he would lie about being there before the assassination given his past. We know that he was in Dallas, and DP in particular, at the time of the assassination as he was detained by a Sheriff's deputy when he exited the Dal-Tex Building. Braden also was known to have mob-ties in Southern California, and it is quite obvious that elements of the mob were involved in the assassination.
The HSCA sure suspected something otherwise they would have never brought this up. Perhaps they suspected meetings taking place at the DPC to discuss the assassination as a number of top oil men have been suspected of being involved so it would make sense as a good place to meet since it was very exclusive. Braden would claim that he flew to Dallas on a private airplane, but the HSCA had produced a witness to say that he flew with Braden on a commercial flight. (Ibid., p. 5) Why would Braden state such an easy thing to check out incorrectly? Why did he want people to think that he was flying on a private plane?
Another interesting thing is that one of the men Braden was travelling with, Morgan Brown, was familiar with "at least one member of the Hunt" family. (Ibid., p. 9) Jack Ruby would visit the Hunt offices on November 21, 1963, as well, so IF they did meet up that evening/night at the Cabana Hotel, could it have been to discuss what was learned that day? It is a possibility as we can't trust anything Braden told us. If he said he couldn't recall once to the HSCA, he invoked it a hundred times. He either had one of the worst memories in history or he was lying by claiming he didn't recall.
For more on the DPC, please see this article.
jfkconspiracyforum.freeforums.net/thread/1664/garrison-chronicles-dallas-petroleum-club
The issue of Braden, and Marina and Ruby, visiting the Hunt offices the day before the assassination is suspicious to me. H.L. Hunt had been thought to be involved in the assassination by researchers over the years as he did not like the Kennedys at all. On November 23, H.L. Hunt asked his chief aide to see what kind of security the police had for LHO.
The aide reported that LHO had very little protection and that security was very lax at police headquarters where LHO was being kept. Hunt flew to Washington, D.C., shortly after receiving this report. LHO was killed on November 24. Draw your own conclusions but remember the "Mr. Hunt" note from LHO. The LN camp wants everyone to think this is a fake, but was it? Documents declassified in 1983 revealed that the FBI apparently believed the note was addressed to H. L. Hunt's ultra-conservative millionaire son, Nelson Hunt.
Who shot LHO? Jack Ruby of course. Was this why Ruby was at the Hunt offices on November 21, 1963? Was he getting his marching orders for eliminating the selected patsy?
Richard E. Sprague, who worked with the HSCA investigators, said they turned up evidence to show Braden was part of the team that went into the Dal-Tex building via the freight elevator and took the backstairs to the second floor. The shooter was, according to Sprague, Emilio Santana with Braden as the radio operator. This makes more sense to me than the ridiculous story that a con with 35 convictions felt a burning desire to call his parents after hearing about JFK's murder.
They were part of a three-team effort. They used the broom closet in the Dal-Tex building on the second floor and in the Altgens photograph a dark arm is seen protruding from this open window near the fire escape.
When I looked into the HSCA's review of Jimmy Hoffa the name Morris Dalitz came up. Morris Dalitz is an intriguing person since the club he built not only entertained top Mafia people, but also people like Earl Warren and Richard Nixon. He built the Rancho La Costa Country Club near San Clemente, California. One of the charter members of this club was the one and only Jim Braden. What important circles Braden, an ex-convict, ran in, huh?
If you are interested in reading about the HSCA's look at Hoffa, please see this article.
jfkconspiracyforum.freeforums.net/thread/302/hsca-says-jimmy-hoffa
Braden would surface in the Senator Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) assassination as well. On June 4, 1968, Braden will check into the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles with his wife which is about 100 miles from his home, BUT just a few minutes away from the Ambassador Hotel where RFK is staying. The LAPD will be concerned enough to question him about his connection to both assassinations, when they learn he was so close to RFK, but of course NOTHING comes of it.
Braden told the HSCA the following about his trip to Los Angeles.
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In 1968 Brading and his wife at the time, the former Mrs. Sanders, were registered at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles and were in bed watching television where they witnessed the shooting of Bobby Kennedy. (NARA Record Number: 124-10370-10013, p. 136; p. 3 in original)
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=9963#relPageId=136
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Braden's only witness for this claim is his former wife and he told them that he had used some of the money ($30,000) she had invested in his "oil company" for some of his own bills. In other words, he was putting out the point that she would be bitter and perhaps not support him. That was a smart move by him. Why was he in Los Angeles? Was it business or pleasure? Who knows as the HSCA didn't ask him.
Again, we are asked to believe nonsense. Why would Braden travel 100 miles to lay in bed to watch RFK on television when he could have done the same thing in his home? This is pure nonsense. What oil business would he have in Los Angeles? Outside of traders I don't see how he could conduct oil business there. Perhaps I am incorrect, but I would doubt it.
He would also deny ever being in the Hunt offices when asked by the HSCA. (Ibid., p. 139; p. 6 in original) They asked if his trip to Dallas was strictly "personal business" and he said, "Yes." (Ibid.) The wording is unusual as many would think the term "personal business" is synonymous with what we do for ourselves. Now, he did supposedly own a business so he could say that was his personal business, but this seems odd to me. Was he there for himself or for "oil business" as he told the DPD and his probation officers in 1963?
He of course denied any involvement in the assassination and of meeting or knowing Jack Ruby. (Ibid., p. 137; p. 7 in original) He also denied any knowledge of LHO as well. No surprises here as who would expect him to admit to these things? He might have been handcuffed on the spot if he did.
There is a photograph (above) that shows Braden in DP wearing a hat with "Xs" on it and according to the Gemstone Papers which wrote this about Braden (a.k.a. Brading), he did the following.
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Brading’s shot hit the curb and ricocheted off. Brading was photographed on the scene, stuffing his gun under his coat. He wore a big leather hat, its hatband marked with large, conspicuous X’s. (Police had been instructed to let anyone with an X-marked hatband through the police lines; some may have been told they were secret service.)
After his shot, Brading ditched his gun with his back-up man and walked up the street toward the Dal-Tex building. Roger Craig, a deputy sheriff, rushed up to Brading, assuming he was "Secret Service," and told him he had just seen a man come out of the Book Depository and jump into a station wagon. Brading was uninterested. Brading walked into the Dal-Tex building to "make a phone call." There he was arrested by another deputy sheriff, showed his "Jim Braden" driver's license, and was quickly released - without being booked. (Gemstone Papers)
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The part about him passing for SS is interesting as I came across this when I did an article on James Dolan for "The HSCA Says" series years ago.
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In March 1978 Dolan was interviewed by the HSCA while he was in jail (again, it seems his luck ran out after JFK was assassinated) and he of course did not say anything to get himself into trouble. He would blame the above incident all on Ruby and he said he did not know Ruby to have any criminal ties. He would also say this about knowing James Bradley Lee.
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www.historymatters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol9/pages/HSCA_Vol9_0218b.gif
Jim Braden, or Brading, was unfamiliar to Dolan until I mentioned Phoenix and James Brady Lee, in connection with some boxing promotion. Dolan stated that he would be happy to identify a photo but he could not be sure that Lee was the person also known as Braden. (HSCA, IX, p. 428)
www.historymatters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol9/html/HSCA_Vol9_0218b.htm
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Had Braden changed his name again to James Bradley Lee, and if so, what had he done under that name? Again, we don't know since no one had any will to find out -- but we do know that it was Braden thanks to the LAPD.
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=99714#relPageId=75
This index by the LAPD clearly shows that Braden used "James Bradley Lee" as an alias. It seems that he was using this alias way back in 1951.
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=68916#relPageId=4
He was a con man, and he used an assortment of names to do it and other crimes. I personally can see him being involved in the assassination in some fashion. What do you think?
This is but one of many examples of people being detained that should have caused major red flags for the DPD and the Sheriff's Office if they were really interested in finding out what happened to the 35th President, but alas, they were told to back off and focus on one "lone nut" instead.
spartacus-educational.com/CRIbraden1.jpg
www.jfkassassinationgallery.com/albums/userpics/10001/normal_Eugene_Hale_Brading.jpg
An interesting character in the President John F. Kennedy (JFK) assassination saga is Eugene Hale Brading (a.k.a. Jim Braden) as he was in the company of Jack Ruby on November 21, 1963, went to the Hunt offices and was in Dealey Plaza (DP) at the time of the assassination. What was he doing there? Well, according to him he was using the telephone in the Dal-Tex Building.
Most of the information in this article is currently available on The JFK Assassination Board ©️, but after watching a podcast ("America's Untold Stories") from a year ago with Mark Groubert, I thought it was time to consolidate it into a single post as he claims no one has done a background on Braden before (with his caveat of to his knowledge). This information has been on this Board for years and other places for even longer. Just search "Brading" on this Board and you will see everything he covered in his podcast while saying he was probably "the only one to put these things together for Braden."
On September 9, 1963, Brading has a new driver's license made for himself in the name of "Jim Braden." The next day he will legally have it changed to Braden. Brading was an ex-convict, and this alone should have prohibited him from obtaining a license in a name that wasn't his or changing his name to something else as this hid his criminal record. Why would you let an ex-convict get a license to support his alias or new name which he could use to commit a crime of some type? I don't know, but California allowed it. This license will be a very important item for Brading on November 22, 1963, as he presented it to the Dallas authorities when he was detained and because it was brand new it had NO ties to any crimes.
IF the Dallas authorities had run his real name, Eugene Hale Brading, they would have found a long list of former crimes, so this license was very important for him. Why did he get this on September 9? Was he planning for what was to come?
On September 13, 1963, Brading met with his federal parole officer, Sam Barrett, and was given permission to go to Texas for ten days. Why would this permission be given to a man on parole? Federal parole to boot. Isn't part of being on parole making yourself available at any time to the parole officer? I thought so, but I guess not. Where did Brading go? He went to Houston for the whole ten days. This city is seen quite a few times in this case. (Hereafter he will be called Braden since he changed his name legally.)
Believe it or not, after spending ten days in Houston in September Braden was given permission to go back to Texas again in November. Why was a man on parole allowed to travel so much? On November 21, 1963, Braden arrived in Dallas, Texas, on "oil business." Why wasn't Braden asked about living in California if he was in the oil business? Was he not allowed to move? If not, why was he allowed to travel to Texas so often?
Braden was traveling with a man by the name of Morgan Brown who was also supposedly in the oil business, but he was really a con man. Both Braden and Brown checked into the Cabana Hotel on November 21, 1963, and they booked the room until November 24. On the afternoon of the 21st, Braden went to the Mercantile Bank Building which had offices for the Hunts in it. Why did Braden go there? Certainly his "oil business" was not on the level of the Hunts so why would he think they would see him?
As luck would have it (or it was planned) while Braden was there Jack Ruby also came to the building. Ruby was going out of his way to help a young college student, Connie Trammel, for some reason as he thought he could help her get a job at the Hunt offices. Why the super-rich Hunts had the time of day for either of these guys is the big question. For more on the Trammel story, please see this.
jfkconspiracyforum.freeforums.net/thread/1645/statements-sink-wcs-conclusions-474
The odds of Braden and Ruby being in the same building at the same time are astronomical as Braden shouldn't have even been in Dallas since he was on parole. His parole record mentioned a meeting with H.L. Hunt, a witness (Hunt Chief of Security Paul Rothermal) placed Braden and three friends at the offices of Lamar Hunt the afternoon before the assassination. Braden's presence in Hunt's office will be confirmed in a FBI report.
An interesting aside is that according to Hunt's former Chief Aide, John Currington, Marina Oswald met with H. L. Hunt two days before the shooting on November 20, 1963. What was this meeting about? So, we are asked to believe in the two days before the assassination the Hunt offices had Marina Oswald, Jim Braden and Jack Ruby visit and this means nothing?
Part of the responsibility of someone on parole is to check-in with a parole officer in the city they are visiting. Braden was interviewed by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) in 1977 and he told them about this.
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...On the day of his arrival in Dallas, he checked in with Roger Carroll at the Dallas Probation Office. At this time Brading was unaware that President Kennedy was coming to Dallas but had heard on the radio that Kennedy was in Fort Worth.
On the morning of the assassination of Kennedy, he left the company of some friends who stated they were going to see Hunt and on his way to the Probation Office, the Presidential motorcade passed him while he was standing in front of Titches department store. After the motorcade passed, he walked one block to the Federal Building, and on arrival and at that office found Probation Officer Carroll and a woman opening the door to the Probation Office. ...Brading signed in and then informed Carroll that his business in Dallas had terminated and he was leaving that day for Houston. (NARA Record Number: 124-10370-10013, p. 134; p. 1 in original)
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=9963#relPageId=134
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Is it a coincidence that Braden's business in Dallas had "terminated" the same time JFK had been?
During the late evening on the November 21, (the evening before the assassination) Jack Ruby just happened to visit the Cabana Hotel sometime around midnight. He would join a dinner party that included Lawrence Meyers, Edward Meyers, Ralph Meyers and Jean Aase. Ed Meyers had visited Mexico City during November 1963 to visit Ralph and of course Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO) was alleged to have visited there in late September to early October 1963. The Pepsi Cola Bottlers Association meeting being attended by Edward Meyers was also the same one Richard Nixon was in town for. Is this just another coincidence? The dinner party possibly grew to include another person of interest in this case — Jim Braden.
Since Braden used his credit card to pay for his drinks at the Bon Vivant Room it was easily clear to see he too was at the Cabana Hotel the night before JFK was murdered (he was checked in there). The Warren Commission (WC) covered this dinner meeting in their Report on page 334.
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www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wr/pages/WCReport_0179b.gif
On Thursday, November 21, 1963… Ruby conversed for about an hour with Lawrence Meyers, a Chicago businessman at the Carousel Club… Between 9:45 and 10:45 p.m., Ruby had dinner with his financial backer Ralph Paul… (then) about midnight Ruby rejoined Meyers at the Bon Vivant Room of the Dallas Cabana where they met Meyers’ brother and sister-in-law. (WCR, p. 334)
www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0179b.htm
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There is NO mention of Jim Braden being at this dinner. Why? What was the WC afraid of? What was discussed at this dinner? Who knows as the WC never investigated it in the slightest in an effort to try and find out. We are asked to believe that an ex-con had two run-ins with Ruby (who had mob ties) on November 21, 1963, and this was just a coincidence with no meaning. Sure.
For more about the Meyers, please see this article.
jfkconspiracyforum.freeforums.net/thread/277/statements-sink-wcs-conclusions-212
Investigative reporter Peter Noyes found out quite a few things from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He learned that Jim Braden was a suspected courier for the Meyer Lansky syndicate. Another person Lansky himself said he had worked with was Edward Meyers. The strange connections keep coming though as Lawrence Meyers had a companion on the night of November 21, 1963. Her name was Jean Aase (aka Jean West). Ms. Aase was an acquaintance of Jack Ruby’s too and he had met her earlier in the day at his club. Ms. Aase would be shopping at the time of the assassination with a dancer at Ruby’s club named Betty McDonald. She would return to Chicago with Lawrence Meyers and never would be questioned by the authorities about what she saw and heard on November 21 and 22, 1963.
Another odd thing pops up in this case when one looks at the layout of the Pierre Marquette Building in New Orleans. Attorney G. Wray Gill had an office in this building (room 1707) and he was representing Mafia boss Carlos Marcello in his deportation case (he would win the case on November 22, 1963). One of the men working on the case with him was David Ferrie who had been LHO’s Civil Air Patrol officer years earlier.
Peter Noyes found that Jim Braden was in and out of room 1701 in the weeks preceding the assassination. What was he doing there? During his investigation for the Clay Shaw trial Jim Garrison obtained the telephone records of Gill’s office to see what kind of calls were being made. Gill provided these and said that Ferrie made many calls, and many were “unauthorized.” It was noted that Ferrie had called Lawrence Meyers’ friend, Jean Aase, on the day LHO allegedly left for Mexico City.
The WC would also publish the calls made by Lawrence Meyers in September to November 1963 in Commission Exhibit (CE) 2350. In this document Garrison matched up a number (Whitehall 4 – 4970) with the Gill records showing Lawrence Edwards had called her as well (November 20, 1963). In October 1963, Meyers had been introduced to Ms. Aase by his business partner, Les Baker, and Meyers would describe her as “a party girl, playgirl, a dumb but accommodating broad and semi-professional hooker.” They would leave for Dallas on November 20, 1963, and stay at the Cabana Hotel.
CE 2350: www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh25/pages/WC_Vol25_0183a.gif
All these connections mean something, but the WC was not interested in any of this information. Were they going over the final details of the assassination at this dinner? Keep in mind, Jim Garrison discovered that Ralph Meyers had been in Army Intelligence so this could show us that we had a representative for the mob and an intelligence person at this dinner.
Braden said that he walked for a while and wound up at the railroad tracks (west end of DP). He said a building was surrounded by the police and their guns were pointing up. This was the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) Building, and someone told him that the person who shot JFK was in that building (NARA Record Number: 124-10370-10013, p. 134; p. 1 in original) How did this person know this so fast?
After hearing this news, Braden had a sudden urge to call his parents and looked for a telephone. He focused on the Dal-Tex Building after a woman passerby who worked there told him about a telephone on the third floor. He drew the attention of the elevator operator because he was not an employee, but he did not do this until the return trip. The elevator operator said nothing taking him to the third floor but on the return trip he was listening to a radio and became alarmed since Braden should not have been taken to the third floor. (Ibid., p. 135; p. 2 in original)
Feeling that Braden doesn't belong in the building the operator sought out a policeman, who detains Braden for questioning, bringing him to the Sheriff's office. They hold him for three or four hours and he gives a statement and then signs it. He tells them his name is Jim Braden, and that he is in Dallas on oil business. He shows them identification and explains he had entered the building in hopes of finding a telephone to call his mother. (Ibid.) By using the new name Braden, he hides his criminal record with reputed underworld ties. Would the Dallas Police Department (DPD) or the Sheriff's Office have handled him differently if they knew what his actual name was? A name with 35 arrests on his record!
We should certainly hope so. One person who should have known him by sight was Sheriff Bill Decker (who we saw had ties to Joseph Campisi) as he ran Braden out of town for embezzling money from rich widows. Why did Decker say nothing in 1963 when he surely would have known who Braden was? He was in his own Sheriff's Office for goodness' sake.
Braden then tells the HSCA that he was offered a ride by the Secret Service (SS) to his room at the Cabana Hotel! (Ibid.) Why in the heck would the SS be offering a ride to him? Were they doing this for all the people detained for questioning? That would seem highly doubtful so, why was the SS so anxious to get Braden out of there? Braden would fly out of Dallas on an eight o'clock flight to Houston. Doesn't this seem odd to you? (It of course doesn't IF Braden was involved in some way.)
Was the "oil business" a cover for Braden? Jim Garrison found out during his investigation into the assassination that Braden was a member of the ultra-conservative Petroleum Club. The HSCA would asked Braden about this when they deposed him.
Mr. Purdy. Mr. Braden, in connection with your oil business, did you ever know a man named George de Moreschild [sic]?
Mr. Braden. No, sir.
Mr. Purdy. Would it refresh your recollection to know he was a geologist?
Mr. Braden. No, sir. It would not refresh my recollection. I do not know a man by that name.
Mr. Purdy. The record indicates that you had some dealings with the Petroleum Club, I believe, of Los Angeles, is that correct?
Mr. Braden. I was a member of the Petroleum Club in Los Angeles until this book came out and I resigned. I was a member of the Petroleum Club in New Orleans and I resigned.
Mr. Purdy. Were you a member of the Petroleum Club in Dallas?
Mr. Braden. No, sir.
Mr. Purdy. Because of your membership in the other Petroleum Club, did you ever have occasion to visit the Dallas Petroleum Club?
Mr. Braden. I think I was there with my wife, Jean Dicentis, at that time. We had dinner there, yes.
Mr. Purdy. Did one of the members have to sponsor your visit there?
Mr. Braden. I was there with a former President of the Republic Bank and his wife.
Mr. Purdy. What was his name?
Mr. Braden. I cannot recall it. I would like to, but I can't. Mrs. Jean Burker in Rancho Santa Fe, California, would remember the name.
Mr. Purdy. Approximately when was that?
Mr. Braden. About 1966 or 1967, along those years. (HSCA Jim Braden Testimony, 5/16/1979, pp. 116-117)
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=19906#relPageId=116
This tells us that Braden had been a member of the Petroleum Club in two cities -- Los Angeles and New Orleans. He claimed that he visited the Dallas Petroleum Club (DPC), but not until years after the assassination. How do we know that this is true given Braden is an ex-con with 35 arrests on his very long record? Of course, he would lie about being there before the assassination given his past. We know that he was in Dallas, and DP in particular, at the time of the assassination as he was detained by a Sheriff's deputy when he exited the Dal-Tex Building. Braden also was known to have mob-ties in Southern California, and it is quite obvious that elements of the mob were involved in the assassination.
The HSCA sure suspected something otherwise they would have never brought this up. Perhaps they suspected meetings taking place at the DPC to discuss the assassination as a number of top oil men have been suspected of being involved so it would make sense as a good place to meet since it was very exclusive. Braden would claim that he flew to Dallas on a private airplane, but the HSCA had produced a witness to say that he flew with Braden on a commercial flight. (Ibid., p. 5) Why would Braden state such an easy thing to check out incorrectly? Why did he want people to think that he was flying on a private plane?
Another interesting thing is that one of the men Braden was travelling with, Morgan Brown, was familiar with "at least one member of the Hunt" family. (Ibid., p. 9) Jack Ruby would visit the Hunt offices on November 21, 1963, as well, so IF they did meet up that evening/night at the Cabana Hotel, could it have been to discuss what was learned that day? It is a possibility as we can't trust anything Braden told us. If he said he couldn't recall once to the HSCA, he invoked it a hundred times. He either had one of the worst memories in history or he was lying by claiming he didn't recall.
For more on the DPC, please see this article.
jfkconspiracyforum.freeforums.net/thread/1664/garrison-chronicles-dallas-petroleum-club
The issue of Braden, and Marina and Ruby, visiting the Hunt offices the day before the assassination is suspicious to me. H.L. Hunt had been thought to be involved in the assassination by researchers over the years as he did not like the Kennedys at all. On November 23, H.L. Hunt asked his chief aide to see what kind of security the police had for LHO.
The aide reported that LHO had very little protection and that security was very lax at police headquarters where LHO was being kept. Hunt flew to Washington, D.C., shortly after receiving this report. LHO was killed on November 24. Draw your own conclusions but remember the "Mr. Hunt" note from LHO. The LN camp wants everyone to think this is a fake, but was it? Documents declassified in 1983 revealed that the FBI apparently believed the note was addressed to H. L. Hunt's ultra-conservative millionaire son, Nelson Hunt.
Who shot LHO? Jack Ruby of course. Was this why Ruby was at the Hunt offices on November 21, 1963? Was he getting his marching orders for eliminating the selected patsy?
Richard E. Sprague, who worked with the HSCA investigators, said they turned up evidence to show Braden was part of the team that went into the Dal-Tex building via the freight elevator and took the backstairs to the second floor. The shooter was, according to Sprague, Emilio Santana with Braden as the radio operator. This makes more sense to me than the ridiculous story that a con with 35 convictions felt a burning desire to call his parents after hearing about JFK's murder.
They were part of a three-team effort. They used the broom closet in the Dal-Tex building on the second floor and in the Altgens photograph a dark arm is seen protruding from this open window near the fire escape.
When I looked into the HSCA's review of Jimmy Hoffa the name Morris Dalitz came up. Morris Dalitz is an intriguing person since the club he built not only entertained top Mafia people, but also people like Earl Warren and Richard Nixon. He built the Rancho La Costa Country Club near San Clemente, California. One of the charter members of this club was the one and only Jim Braden. What important circles Braden, an ex-convict, ran in, huh?
If you are interested in reading about the HSCA's look at Hoffa, please see this article.
jfkconspiracyforum.freeforums.net/thread/302/hsca-says-jimmy-hoffa
Braden would surface in the Senator Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) assassination as well. On June 4, 1968, Braden will check into the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles with his wife which is about 100 miles from his home, BUT just a few minutes away from the Ambassador Hotel where RFK is staying. The LAPD will be concerned enough to question him about his connection to both assassinations, when they learn he was so close to RFK, but of course NOTHING comes of it.
Braden told the HSCA the following about his trip to Los Angeles.
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In 1968 Brading and his wife at the time, the former Mrs. Sanders, were registered at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles and were in bed watching television where they witnessed the shooting of Bobby Kennedy. (NARA Record Number: 124-10370-10013, p. 136; p. 3 in original)
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=9963#relPageId=136
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Braden's only witness for this claim is his former wife and he told them that he had used some of the money ($30,000) she had invested in his "oil company" for some of his own bills. In other words, he was putting out the point that she would be bitter and perhaps not support him. That was a smart move by him. Why was he in Los Angeles? Was it business or pleasure? Who knows as the HSCA didn't ask him.
Again, we are asked to believe nonsense. Why would Braden travel 100 miles to lay in bed to watch RFK on television when he could have done the same thing in his home? This is pure nonsense. What oil business would he have in Los Angeles? Outside of traders I don't see how he could conduct oil business there. Perhaps I am incorrect, but I would doubt it.
He would also deny ever being in the Hunt offices when asked by the HSCA. (Ibid., p. 139; p. 6 in original) They asked if his trip to Dallas was strictly "personal business" and he said, "Yes." (Ibid.) The wording is unusual as many would think the term "personal business" is synonymous with what we do for ourselves. Now, he did supposedly own a business so he could say that was his personal business, but this seems odd to me. Was he there for himself or for "oil business" as he told the DPD and his probation officers in 1963?
He of course denied any involvement in the assassination and of meeting or knowing Jack Ruby. (Ibid., p. 137; p. 7 in original) He also denied any knowledge of LHO as well. No surprises here as who would expect him to admit to these things? He might have been handcuffed on the spot if he did.
There is a photograph (above) that shows Braden in DP wearing a hat with "Xs" on it and according to the Gemstone Papers which wrote this about Braden (a.k.a. Brading), he did the following.
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Brading’s shot hit the curb and ricocheted off. Brading was photographed on the scene, stuffing his gun under his coat. He wore a big leather hat, its hatband marked with large, conspicuous X’s. (Police had been instructed to let anyone with an X-marked hatband through the police lines; some may have been told they were secret service.)
After his shot, Brading ditched his gun with his back-up man and walked up the street toward the Dal-Tex building. Roger Craig, a deputy sheriff, rushed up to Brading, assuming he was "Secret Service," and told him he had just seen a man come out of the Book Depository and jump into a station wagon. Brading was uninterested. Brading walked into the Dal-Tex building to "make a phone call." There he was arrested by another deputy sheriff, showed his "Jim Braden" driver's license, and was quickly released - without being booked. (Gemstone Papers)
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The part about him passing for SS is interesting as I came across this when I did an article on James Dolan for "The HSCA Says" series years ago.
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In March 1978 Dolan was interviewed by the HSCA while he was in jail (again, it seems his luck ran out after JFK was assassinated) and he of course did not say anything to get himself into trouble. He would blame the above incident all on Ruby and he said he did not know Ruby to have any criminal ties. He would also say this about knowing James Bradley Lee.
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www.historymatters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol9/pages/HSCA_Vol9_0218b.gif
Jim Braden, or Brading, was unfamiliar to Dolan until I mentioned Phoenix and James Brady Lee, in connection with some boxing promotion. Dolan stated that he would be happy to identify a photo but he could not be sure that Lee was the person also known as Braden. (HSCA, IX, p. 428)
www.historymatters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol9/html/HSCA_Vol9_0218b.htm
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Had Braden changed his name again to James Bradley Lee, and if so, what had he done under that name? Again, we don't know since no one had any will to find out -- but we do know that it was Braden thanks to the LAPD.
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=99714#relPageId=75
This index by the LAPD clearly shows that Braden used "James Bradley Lee" as an alias. It seems that he was using this alias way back in 1951.
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=68916#relPageId=4
He was a con man, and he used an assortment of names to do it and other crimes. I personally can see him being involved in the assassination in some fashion. What do you think?
This is but one of many examples of people being detained that should have caused major red flags for the DPD and the Sheriff's Office if they were really interested in finding out what happened to the 35th President, but alas, they were told to back off and focus on one "lone nut" instead.