W. Tracy Parnell

James Norwood, a Ph.D. at Berkeley, has written an article promoting the John Armstrong “Harvey & Lee” theory. http://harveyandlee.net/J_Norwood/Legend.html As a credentialed academic, Mr. Norwood should know better. This article will discuss some of his assertions, even though most have been previously refuted. Jim Wilcott was a CIA finance officer in the 1950s, who testified before the House Select Committee on Assassinations in the late 1970s of his knowledge of the funding of the so-called Oswald Project. The HSCA conducted a full investigation into the matter and found his allegations were “not worthy of belief.” The document shown represents notes made by an unknown person. If Wilcott made the notes, it should be said that he did not testify under oath to most of what is asserted there. Wilcott, who was an embittered former employee who became a left-wing extremist, is discussed here: http://wtracyparnell.blogspot.com/2017/03/james-wilcott.html For the capital c...

One of the most easily refuted claims in John Armstrong’s book Harvey & Lee is that Lee Harvey Oswald (“Harvey” per Armstrong) spoke no Russian in the Soviet Union. One purpose of this silly allegation is to prove that Marina spoke English while in Russia and she was therefore a spy. The following excerpt is from page 334. NOTE: When Oswald and Marina met, danced, and agreed to a date the following Friday they spoke a common language. Was it Russian or English? The HSCA asked Marina, "At this time you were speaking in Russian together?" She answered, "Yes. He spoke with an accent so I assumed he was from another state. " Oswald came in contact with hundreds of people in Russia, but Marina is the only person-THE ONLY PERSON [emphasis in original] who said that Oswald spoke Russian while in Russia. Ana Ziger, who saw Oswald three or four times a week during the 2 1 /2 years he lived in Minsk, said he never spoke a single word of Russian. All of Oswald's m...

After a highly publicized event, there is a tendency for people to want to become a part of the event and therefore a part of history. Wilt Chamberlain once noted “As I've traveled the world, I've probably had 10,000 people tell me that they saw my 100 point game …” although the actual number of people in attendance was 4124. Such is apparently the case with Dr. Milton Kurian who wrote a letter to Jackie Kennedy in 1964. Kurian, a psychiatrist, told Mrs. Kennedy that he had examined Lee Harvey Oswald in March of 1964. Double Oswald theorist John Armstrong uses Dr. Kurian’s remembrances as proof of “Harvey” Oswald. This article will show that Dr. Kurian could not have seen LHO and that “Harvey” does not exist. Dr. Kurian says he remembers the time of his experience with LHO because he was leaving his job as a psychiatrist for domestic relations court in New York and places it as March, 1953. But Kurian could not have seen Lee Harvey Oswald for several reasons. Warren Commi...

The story Leander D’Avy told investigators for Jim Garrison and the HSCA is one of the least believable tales in JFK assassination literature. Predictably, John Armstrong chose to use it in his 2003 book Harvey and Lee as an example of a sighting of “Lee”. The fact is, he must use stories like this because “Lee” must turn up in places where “Harvey” isn’t to make his two Oswald theory plausible. Fortunately for Armstrong, after any publicized event such as the assassination, eyewitnesses will come forward and swear they have seen people in places where it was impossible for them to have been for various reasons (see John McAdams, Assassination Logic , p. 42-43). Let’s look at Armstrong’s assertions regarding D’Avy starting with pages 401-402 of Harvey and Lee: Leander D’Avy was the doorman at the Court of Two Sisters and had worked there for two years after retiring from 20 years service in the US Air Force. In June 1962 a young man walked in and asked D’Avy if Clay Bertrand wor...

One of John Armstrong’s favorite investigative techniques is to suggest that since there are records that contain discrepancies, something sinister may be going on. But when others point out that mistakes and differences in records are a normal occurrence, Armstrong’s associates ridicule this idea and claim that so many unexplained discrepancies could not exist. But such inconsistencies can and do exist in the real world for varying reasons. It turns out that Armstrong developed a theory as to the identity of the Marguerite “impostor” which he wisely chose not to pursue but does mention on page 133 in his book under a section titled “an unexplained curiosity.” Margaret Keating Oswald was the first wife of Robert E. L. Oswald (father of Robert and Lee Harvey Oswald), whom she divorced in 1933. The court restored her last name to Keating, her maiden name, which she kept for the remainder of her life (she apparently never remarried). The name Margaret Keating and her address, 120 N. T...

One of the tenets of the John Armstrong Harvey & Lee theory is the difference in appearance between the two boys in 1952-53. “Lee” was tall and had a dominant personality, while “Harvey” was shorter and more slight in build. Three witnesses are used by Armstrong and his supporters to bolster their case. In March, 1953, Dr. Milton Kurian allegedly interviewed “Harvey” at Youth House in New York. Kurian described “Harvey” as “thin and very quiet” and estimated his height at 4’8”. Dr. Renatus Hartogs interviewed “Harvey” at Youth House in April, 1953. Although Hartogs offered no height estimate, he described “Harvey” as “thin, malnourished, and reminiscent of children he had seen in concentration camps in Europe.” According to the theory, “Harvey” enrolled at Beauregard School in New Orleans in September, 1953. His homeroom teacher was Myra DaRouse and she remembered “Harvey” as being 4’6” to 4’8” tall. These witness accounts are the only evidence for Armstrong’s statement that “Har...

In 1967, Robert Oswald published his remembrances of LHO in the book, Lee: A Portrait of Lee Harvey Oswald by His Brother . In the book is a photo taken of LHO by Robert from a hunting trip at the Mercer farm owned by Robert's in-laws. The photo shows LHO with very short hair and a somewhat more muscular appearance than was usual for him. Theorists have long commented on LHO’s appearance which they find suspicious and have sought to definitively date the photo. According to the official record, there were three leaves that LHO visited relatives in Fort Worth and therefore three time periods that the photo could have been taken; February-March 1957, June 1957 and November 1958. However, it is likely that the photo was taken during the February-March leave when LHO had just completed boot camp and was probably in the best shape of his life. He also sported a haircut known as a “high and tight” usually given to recruits where the sides are very closely shaved and the top somewhat ...

Discussions of John Armstrong’s Harvey & Lee theory often involve scientific and other evidence. But what if we just look at the theory by asking some “common sense” questions? Who Was Involved in the Plot? How many individuals would have to be involved for the H&L plot to be true? It turns out the answer is dozens when you count the principals and the subordinates who would necessarily be involved. Some of the names on this list will not bother conspiracy theorists. James Angleton and David Phillips are well known suspects and universal villains with the CIA-did-it crowd. But some of the names on this list should give just about anyone pause, including LHO’s family members and friends. I invite anyone to think about the names here and honestly ask yourself how this could all come together. http://wtracyparnell.blogspot.com/2017/01/harvey-lee-who-was-involved-in-plot.html The Behavior of the “Fake” Marguerite The outlandish behavior of the woman who is supposed to ...

Update: May 3, 2020. Researcher Lance Payette brought the following information to my attention. To lend credibility to his story, promoters of the Wilcott affair have sometimes referred to his position in the CIA as “finance officer” (see, for example, Armstrong’s Harvey and Lee, page 262). But Payette told me in an email, “As far as I can tell, he was never a GS-9. He had been hired as a GS-5 and made a career employee at GS-7. A Resignation Interview Report dated April 15, 1966 shows him as still a GS-7 when he left the CIA. No matter how anyone tries to spin it, no one at GS-5 or GS-7 is an officer.” The dubious allegations of James Wilcott, a former CIA employee who testified before the HSCA in executive session, are still repeated by theorists promoting the idea that the CIA was involved in the JFK assassination. [1] Wilcott (born 9-27-31 in Cleveland, OH [2]) told the HSCA that he had been informed by a fellow CIA employee while posted in Tokyo that Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO) ...