The Winnipeg Airport Incidents
Peter R. Whitmey
A-149 1909 Salton Road
Abbotsford BC Canada V2S 5B6
The Fourth Decade, November 1995, pages 22–25
As some readers might recall, I wrote a lengthy article entitled “The
Man Who Heard Too Much” (The Third Decade, Nov. 1990) about the
allegations of the late Richard Giesbrecht, who overheard two men talking in the
Horizon Room at the Winnipeg International Airport, which led him to believe
they might have been involved somehow in the assassination of President Kennedy.
The incident was discussed in some detail in the obscure 1969 book The
Kennedy Conspiracy (Meredith Press: NY) by Paris Flammonde, and more
recently a summary was provided in the 1993 book Who’s Who In The JFK
Assassination (Citadel Press: NY) by Michael Benson.
My 1990 article was based primarily on
secondary sources such as the Winnipeg Free Press coverage both in 1964
and 1967 (when Mr. Giesbrecht identified one of the men as being David Ferrie);
a lengthy article in the Nov. 1967 issue of Maclean’s magazine; a 1968 Winnipeg
Tribune report; a surprisingly thorough National Enquirer article; a
brief reference in two 1968 Ramparts articles by William Turner; and the
above mentioned reference in Flammonde’s book as well as Coup D’État In
America. I was also able to speak to Giesbrecht himself and other family
members, along with his former lawyer (who now lives in B.C.), the reporters who
wrote the articles in the WFP, the WT, and Maclean’s, and even former
FBI agent James Hosty.
Shortly after publication of my article, I
finally received FBI documents dealing with the allegations, including a
six-page summary of SA Merle Nelson’s interview (conducted in Winnipeg), as
well as an interview with a TV station manager whom Giesbrecht had contacted. I
was able to locate the former manager, who was much more supportive of
Giesbrecht’s sincerity than the FBI report suggested.
In addition, researcher Bill Adams kindly
sent me several helpful documents that he had obtained from AARC, which were
part of Bill Boxley’s file (aka Wood), an investigator who worked for
Garrison. It should be noted that a reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press
(who later became a senior partner of UPI in Washington, D.C.) had contracted
Garrison’s office in March, 1967, and later that year Garrison spoke by phone
with Giesbrecht in regard to testifying at the Shaw trial. Although Giesbrecht
agreed to cooperate, as reflected in a Feb. 1966 Winnipeg Tribune report,
by the time the trial got underway in Jan. 1969, Giesbrecht had allegedly been
threatened with harm to his family, and therefore notified Garrison that he
would not be coming to New Orleans after all.
One of the most intriguing documents I
received was the FBI’s “cover pages” to the original report on March 6,
1964, which listed several leads that specific FBI offices were directed to look
into. One of these leads involved re-interviewing Martin Isaacs, a social worker
in New York City, who had dealt with the Oswalds when they first arrived in the
U.S. As I pointed out in my article, Mr. Giesbrecht had noted references to the
name “Isaacs” during the airport lounge conversation he had overheard.
A second lead was to be checked out by the
FBI’s Las Vegas office, related to a shop in Mercury, Nevada (the location of
the Atomic Energy Commission’s testing site), that one of the airport men
suggested had become “too risky,” with the suggestion that it might be
closed. Giesbrecht wasn’t certain the men were discussing a shop, however,
suggesting it could also have been a car or a house. It later occurred to me
that the reference to “Mercury” could also have been in connection with the
right-wing periodical, American Mercury, whose “military editor” in
1963 was General Edwin Walker, replacing General Willoughby. Prior to the
assassination, the magazine went from being a monthly to a quarterly publication
following a change in ownership and a shift in headquarters from Wichita, KS to
McAllen, TX. After the assassination, “Mercury” almost went out of
business, with several issues virtually devoid of articles, as though it had
been put on hold.
A third lead involved the Dallas FBI
office, which was directed to determine if the name “Isaacs” had appeared in
their investigation. In fact it had, in that a customer service manager for
American Airlines (who was transferred to San Francisco either shortly before or
possibly shortly after the assassination) named Charles R. Isaacs had been
interviewed on Jan. 6, 1964, as had his second wife. Isaacs’ name, phone
number (which I determined was as of 1961, and later changed in 1963), and place
of employment had been listed in Jack Ruby’s notebook, although no explanation
for this detailed listing was apparently provided to the FBI, according to their
brief report. The FBI did indicate that Mrs. Isaacs had worked for Ruby as a
wardrobe designer, and that she and her husband had confronted Ruby, as a result
of a check “bouncing.” (I was able to locate the former Mrs. Isaacs, and she
was sure that her name was in Ruby’s notebook, which was not the case.)
The fourth and final lead involved the
Kansas City FBI office, in that Giesbrecht had overheard plans for an upcoming
meeting of some unidentified group, to be held at the Town House Motor Hotel,
supposedly in Kansas City, where the attendees were to register under the name
of a textile firm. The hotel was apparently situated on the corner of “Kellogg
and Broadway” (as stated in the FBI report), which, it turns out, is the main
intersection of downtown Wichita, KS. It’s possible that FBI agent Nelson was
not familiar with either Wichita or K.C. as he lived, in Grand Forks, ND. He
might also have confused the hotel with the similar-sounding Town House Motor
Inn located in K.C. where the “Minutemen” held their first national
conference.
Intriguingly, David Ferrie had made six
phone calls to an oil producer living in Wichita in the fall of 1962 along with
a call to a men’s clothing store as well as another number. In addition,
Ferrie made several calls from Wichita itself back to New Orleans in early 1963,
and in the spring of 1963 Jack Ruby visited a nightclub there. There is no
evidence from his phone records that Chicago businessman Lawrence Meyers visited
Wichita on behalf of Ero Manufacturing, his employer, but he did make a call
from New Orleans to Chicago on Nov. 13, 1963 as well as phoning Jean Aase from
Kansas City on Nov. 20, 1963 (who earlier received a phone call at the same
number from David Ferrie on Sept. 24, 1963, the day Oswald left New Orleans; on
the same day, Ferrie also phoned a number in Washington, D.C.). Although Meyers
admitted to being a friend of Ruby’s, he denied knowing Ferrie when
interviewed by the HSCA. Miss Aase, whom the HSCA was unable to locate,
indicated in 1993 that the Sept. 24 call from Ferrie (fifteen minutes in length)
was probably for Meyers, and was relieved to know, when I spoke to her, that he
is now dead.
For some time I was uncertain as to
whether any follow-up investigation was, in fact, carried out by the
above-mentioned FBI offices, until I received several documents earlier this
year from researcher Jeff Caulfield M.D., who had located them at Archives II,
verifying that at least two of the four leads had been checked out. The Las
Vegas FBI office reported on Mar. 4, 1964 that there was “… no information
concerning any businesses or shops having closed or who contemplate closing at
the test site.” On the same day, the New York City FBI office stated that
Martin Isaacs had been interviewed. Mr. Isaacs stated that he had “never been
in the state of Texas and he was working at the Department of Welfare on
11/22/63…” He also indicated that he wasn’t “…acquainted with any
individuals named Hoffman or Haughtman or Romaniuk” (names which Giesbrecht
had overheard being mentioned), did not own an automobile and “ … could not
furnish … information regarding discussion of a ’58 Dodge or possibly
Mercury car.” Isaacs had never “… heard of the Townhouse at Kellogg and
Broadway in Kansas City, Missouri,” and had never been to either Kansas City
or Winnipeg. At this point in my investigation, I have not been able to
ascertain whether any report was provided by the Dallas FBI office in regard to
having previously interviewed Charles R. Isaacs. Likewise, I do not know whether
the Kansas City FBI office made a report in connection with a possible
“textile” meeting to be held at the Town House Motor Hotel (with a
correction as to its location).
Another possible lead was provided to SA
Merle Nelson by Constable Wershler of the RCMP (Winnipeg detachment) in a letter
dated May 5, 1964 (provided to me by a Hamilton, Ontario researcher). Wershler
had been contacted by an unidentified social worker, who had recalled an
intriguing classified ad after reading about Mr. Giesbrecht’s allegations n
the front page of the May 2 Winnipeg Free Press. The ad appeared in the
“personal” section on April 7th, 8th, and 9th
and read as follows:
“Int. Airport Lounge, Feb. 13, 1964.
Gentlemen interested in textiles Kan. Cy. Apply to Box 400, Free Press.”
Although the informant could not recall
the specific date of the ad he had read, the RCMP was able to locate it. In his
letter, Wershler indicated that in order to minimize publicity, “…no
enquiries were made of the Free Press concerning the source of this ad.
It was felt here that this information should be directed to you for whatever
action you deem necessary. This office would be glad to lend any assistance to
you in furthering this aspect of your investigation.”
Unfortunately, regardless of the obvious
need to ascertain who placed the ad (possibly Giesbrecht himself did), no
reference was made to it in any of the numerous FBI memos I received through my
FOIPA request. Instead, I learned that Mr. Giesbrecht was not held in high
esteem at FBI headquarters, who believed he was merely seeking publicity and
money. His allegations were described in a May 5, 1964 memo from Branigan to
Sullivan as “…another wild unsupported imaginative allegation,” even
though a “…reputable businessman in Winnipeg….” who had known Mr.
Giesbrecht for several years considered him to be “…a reliable
individual,” as stated in the original March 27, 1964 FBI report.
I have no doubt that Richard Giesbrecht
overheard a conversation that seemed to suggest possible collusion in the
assassination of President Kennedy. However, it is hard to believe that direct
participants in a plot to kill JFK would be foolish enough to talk about their
involvement so openly (although they might have assumed they couldn’t be heard
given the music being piped in and the conversation around them). It is
possible, however, that the two men (one of whom might have been named “Romaniuk,”
a common Winnipeg name), as well as the group they appeared to be associated
with, were more concerned with some kind of association with Lee Harvey Oswald,
not related to the assassination itself. Given the reference to Oswald as being
a “psycho,” whom “Isaacs” had somehow become foolishly associated with,
I believe that it is possible that the two men and others might have been
involved in some kind of illegal activity, such as gunrunning. Giesbrecht had
heard reference to a “good shipment” arriving in the city of “Caracas,”
originating in “Newport” (Rhode Island, Kentucky, Oregon, or Nova Scotia are
all possibilities), which the two men were pleased about (this comment was
quoted originally in the Maclean’s article but did not appear in either
the FBI report or the two Winnipeg Free Press articles). Intriguingly, as
pointed out to me by researcher Larry Haapanen (who also made me aware of
Ferrie’s phone calls to Wichita), the name “Caracas” appears in Oswald’s
notebook, amongst a list of seemingly unrelated items, suggesting the
possibility that Oswald had tried to infiltrate the group in question through
his association with “Isaacs” (on behalf of the FBI? KGB? himself?).
It should be noted that “Romaniuk” was
quite concerned as to how much Oswald knew and how much he had told his wife,
who just happened to have testified before the Warren Commission earlier in the
month. In fact, her picture was on the cover of Time magazine, which was
on the newsstands before Feb. 13, 1964 (although dated Feb. 14). Attempts were
apparently being made by a man named either “Hoffman” of “Haughtman” to
track down “Isaacs,” who seemed to have disappeared, possibly driving a 1958
Dodge. If Charles R. Isaacs, the American Airlines employee, was the man being
referred to, this might explain why he was transferred to San Francisco (even
the FBI had some difficulty locating him). I was able to obtain his address in
1992 from his son and wrote to him, but later learned that he had been
hospitalized, suffering from Alzheimer’s, shortly after his third wife died
(who was from Kansas).
Shortly after the release of “JFK,” I
was contacted by a CBC-TV assistant producer named George Jacobs in Winnipeg in
regard to my Giesbrecht research (who had initially contacted Sheldon Inkol in
Toronto after seeing a profile of him on a CBC-TV report about “JFK,” and
the growing skepticism towards the Warren Commission’s conclusions). There was
some interest in interviewing me for a local Winnipeg news program, which
finally came to fruition on Nov. 22, 1993 via satellite. Although the
three-minute interview (along with a short excerpt from “JFK” featuring Joe
Pesci as David Ferrie) received little response, one caller, whose name and
phone number were given to me, certainly provided strong support for Richard
Giesbrecht’s account, although the FBI unfortunately were never made aware of
her experience.
The caller, named Lorraine, was 22 years
old in 1963, and recalled having gone to the Winnipeg Airport on either Nov. 18
or November 19, 1963 to pick up a package for her brother, which was being flown
in from Calgary. While waiting for the flight to arrive, Lorraine went to the
Horizon Room around 11:00 am and sat at a booth not far behind three
well-dressed men. It was fairly quiet in the restaurant/bar at that time, and
therefore Lorraine was able to overhear the men talking, even though they were
not speaking loudly. In the course of the conversation, one of the men said that
someone was going to killed in Dallas that coming Friday (which conceivably
referred to Connally as much as Kennedy). Lorraine felt very uneasy at this
point and decided to leave, later telling her brother about the comment. He
suggested that it was probably in connection with some kind of Mafia “hit,”
although neither one, of course, knew that President Kennedy would be in Dallas
on that fateful day.
On Friday, Nov. 22, while babysitting for
her brother, he phoned to tell her that President Kennedy had been assassinated
in Dallas and that what she heard must have been connected. He also warned her
not to tell anyone about the incident. Although she later told other members of
her family (including a niece named Anna Marie), Lorraine never notified the
RCMP or the media, until she phoned CBC-TV after viewing my interview (which her
niece notified her about). When I spoke to Lorraine, I asked her if she had read
the WFP report about Giesbrecht’s alleged experience in the Horizon Room on
Feb. 13, 1964, but she replied that she was unaware of the incident, possibly
due to having moved to northern Manitoba some time in 1964. Even today, both
Lorraine and her niece are apprehensive about their full names being divulged,
and for personal reasons did not feel it would be worthwhile to put me in
contact with Lorraine’s brother.
It seems that there is a good possibility
that individuals located in Winnipeg, Canada were linked through gunrunning
operations with David Ferrie, Lee Harvey Oswald, as well as Jack Ruby (and maybe others), and that a decision was made to eliminate the
source of interference in this lucrative endeavor—President John F. Kennedy
and possibly, at the same time, Governor Connally. Unfortunately, at this late
date, it is very difficult to prove.