The JFK Files

Several years ago, Wonder Wife and I decided to end our "Cozy" Genre series of spy novels with JFK The Umbrella Conspiracy by William Penn, our alter ego. "Cozy" means no vulgar language, no sex scenes, with most violence taking place off-stage. Because the net proceeds go to disabled veterans, we do not shy from mentioning our work.

To prepare, we read much of whatever was in print about the JFK assassination, to include the Warren Commission and the follow-on Congressional investigations. But when the novel was done, we were left with three big questions: Why, instead of zipping straight ahead through Dealey Plaza did the motorcade detour over to the Texas Book Depository, forcing the long presidential limo to make an incredibly slow 120 degree turn right under the window occupied by Lee Harvey Oswald? Why was Oswald, the nut case, so well known to the FBI and CIA, not being baby sat by the Secret Service while JFK was in Dallas? And, who ordered the October 12, 1964 execution-style murder of JFK's mistress, Mary Pinchot Meyer, as she jogged along D.C.'s C and O Canal tow path? Surely, the elegant Meyer would not allow a homeless drunk to get close enough to fire two shots that left powder burns on her body. Later, a jury found the homeless man not guilty. Meyer was known to be urging JFK to pull out of Vietnam. The case remains unsolved.

Research revealed that Oswald was not a good shot. Recall, the Marines have three designations for rifle shooting qualifications: Expert, Sharpshooter, and Marksman. The Marines want every Marine to fire Expert. But, despite his Drill Instructor's coaching, think Gunny Sgt. R. Lee Emory, Oswald never made Expert, only Sharpshooter.

Moreover, retired Major General Edwin Walker was the target of an assassination attempt at his home on April 10, 1963, but escaped serious injury when a bullet fired from outside hit a window frame and fragmented. After its investigation, the Warren Commission concluded the failed shooter was Lee Harvey Oswald.

As for a motive to kill the very popular JFK, we found lots of people who might want him dead, ranging from Britons enraged by former Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy's support of appeasement of Hitler, to the Mafia, to Madame Nhu who rightly blamed JFK for the death of her husband.

As novelists often do, we roped everyone who might have played a role in killing JFK into the plot, and posing the question as to why the motorcade route needlessly put JFK right under Oswald's window and, why Oswald was loose in Dallas that day, who ordered the execution of Mary Pinchot Meyer? We are hopeful the tons of just released JFK files will answer those three basic questions that beg for answers.

(c) 2025. William Hamilton.