Cui Bono?

The theory that Castro was behind the assassination of President Kennedy has been in the news lately. A new book Ultimate Sacrifice argues that the Mafia was the culprit. Joan Mellen's new book A Farewell to Justice links the assassination to the CIA.

One of the oldest theories has not received much attention of late. Was Lyndon Baines Johnson involved in the assassination of his predecessor? Texas wheeler-dealer Billie Sol Estes says yes. His sources were LBJ aides Malcolm "Mac" Wallace and Cliff Carter, as well as Mafioso Carlos Marcello and Vito Genovese. Estes claims possession of taped conversations with the first two but has not made them public. He calls the tapes "life insurance." Here are some excerpts from his book Billie Sol Estes: A Texas Legend.

I understand the final approval was given at a poker game played at Brownies Restaurant on Grand Avenue in Dallas....

According to Cliff, in May 1963, the poker game was in high gear and the subject of killing Kennedy came up again. After some of the lesser players left, the discussion turned serious. As I understand, Cliff, H.L. Hunt, W.O. Bankston, and D.H. Byrd were there. There may have been others but at least they were there. Cliff was given the green light to proceed with the assassination.

Bankston was a personal friend of Dallas County Sheriff, who Estes says was involved in the assassination. D.H. Byrd was a political ally of LBJ and owned the Texas School Book Depository building, from the sixth window of which Oswald was supposed to have shot Kennedy.