Edwards Lecture

“You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.”

Daniel Patrick Moynihan 1927 - 2003

This past November (2024) there was a “conference” in Dallas regarding the John F. Kennedy assassination. This type of conference can trace its’ roots back to November of 1991. The first event – A.S.K. – was billed as the Assassination Symposium on Kennedy. Over the years, these meetings devolved from symposiums to conferences to lectures. Let’s begin with the definitions.

A symposium brings together experts to present and discuss a specific topic or theme. It emphasizes the exchange of knowledge, research findings, and insights among participants.

A conference is a formal meeting where people with a shared interest or background come together to discuss ideas, issues, and work related to a particular topic.

A lecture is defined as a formal presentation or speech that conveys information or teaches a subject to the audience.

With a lecture there is little to no interaction with other experts or the audience. In some cases, the attendees are supplied with inaccurate or unsupportable claims to defend the position of the speaker.

At this conference a presentation was made by Brian Edwards about another potential assassin to add to the 35 already named. This “admitted assassin” was Roscoe White.

Since Edwards is a former police officer with a master's degree in criminal justice, one would expect he has handled evidence and given testimony in court. It does not appear he applied the minimal requirements for a thorough investigation. Additionally, he gives his interpretation of the evidence and ignores research done by others. I will use excerpts from his lecture to prove my point.

Edwards opens his presentation with, “I'm going to give you a kind of thumbnail sketch of the Roscoe White story. Some of you may know about Roscoe White, but you don't know the Roscoe White story. So we're going to quickly educate you on who Roscoe White was and how we was involved in the assassination of President Kennedy.” (Emphasis mine)

“It's not a coincidence that Roscoe White, Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, and Geneva White, all knew each other.”

Edwards “evidence” for the coincidence is a picture of Jack Ruby and Geneva White together. Originally, this photograph, presented at the Ricky White press conference in August of 1990, was credited to Roscoe White. The attribution was dropped when I published a rebuttal showing that the original photograph was found in the November 28th, 1988, issue of Time magazine on page 44. As can be seen below in the margin, the photograph was taken by Ruby’s photographer, Jimmy Rhodes.

Back in 1991, I contacted members of the Geneva’s family who verified the woman in the photograph was Geneva. The Time magazine caption reads, “Did Ruby, auditioning a stripper, use one of them as an alibi in the Oswald slaying?” Proponents of this story, such as Edwards, take great pains to deny Geneva was a stripper. At the 1990 press conference she was a “rail girl” and is now identified, by Edwards, as a “hostess.”

That Geneva worked for Ruby can be questioned. No mention is made that Ruby employed a rail girl or hostess nor is Geneva’s name mentioned in Warren Commission, House Select Committee, or Ruby trial testimony. There is no verification in the book Ruby’s Girls. This book was written in 1970 by Larry Grove. It contains interviews with Carousel Club strippers Alice Anderson and Diana Hunter. The women denied Oswald was ever in the club. “No, we don't think there was any kind of conspiracy. Jack just shot him. We aren't sure why.” (p. 182)

Stripper Jada (Janet Conforto) was interviewed by the F.B.I. on December 4^th, 1963. She echoed the statements of Anderson and Hunter.

“She (Conforto) did not know of any association between RUBY and LEE HARVEY OSWALD. She had never seen OSWALD in the Carousel Club, or at any place.”

23H297 CE 1561 pp. 297 to 303

Geneva did work as a waitress at the Cattleman’s Restaurant in Dallas. However, Roscoe White’s pre-employment Dallas Police Department background check shows shortly before the assassination she had a “slip and fall” accident at work resulting in a head injury and was unable to work.

1] There is no proof Geneva White worked for Jack Ruby.

Edwards then indicates, “The bottom picture to the left is the assassin, the patsy, Lee Harvey Oswald. Who makes a better assassin? Who on paper - who makes a better assassin Lee Harvey Oswald or Roscoe White? Well, let’s see if we can figure that out.”

Here he uses the Logical Fallacy “Loaded Question” wherein he phrases a question in such a way that the answer (Oswald is a patsy) is already supposed. He disregards the fact that both were trained United States Marines.

“Well, let’s see if we can figure it out.” really means I will figure it out for you.

Edwards does not mention Whites' "25A. Specialty Number and Title was 3516 Automotive Mechanic." Oswald was an "Aviation Electronics Operator." Oswald had a security clearance while White had none.

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There has been much discussion of White infiltrating the Dallas Police Department. This because, someone dressed as a police officer, might assassinate the president and blend in with the crowd in the aftermath. Edwards uses his interviews with alleged witness Ed Hoffman to bolster the assertion. However, Ed’s earlier descriptions of what he saw discounts the claim.

“As the motorcade wound through Dealey Plaza largely out of Ed’s sight, he noticed a puff of smoke among the trees on the north end of the plaza, which he initially thought was from a cigarette. Then the man in the suit, who had been out of Ed’s view at the time, came running into sight carrying a rifle. He passed the weapon to the man in work clothes, and then casually returned to where he’d come from.”

“Train man,” as Ed calls him the man in work clothes, “broke down” the rifle and secreted it in some sort of carrying case or bag, and then ran north along the tracks into the railroad yard, where he was eventually lost from Ed’s view. Ed next saw JFK’s limousine speeding up the highway entrance ramp, blood everywhere and JFK’s head “blown open ... like red Jell-o.” He quickly realized that the men with the rifle had shot the President.”

Sloan, Bill, Breaking the Silence (Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas TX, 1993, p. 19)

2] Hoffman never mentions encountering a person in a police uniform.

At the 1990 press conference, there was discussion of White receiving specialized ballistic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. This would be useful in his assassination assignment as stated in one of the three cables. However, once I received White’s military file, I discovered this was an embellishment. The certificate, as shown below, was for an Artillery Ballistic Meteorology Course involving the release of weather balloons.

Note the certificate is signed by a Major General with a last name that looks like Bowers. This name will come up later.

3] White never received specialized ballistic training at Fort Sill.

Edwards states, “In 1957 he and Lee Oswald along with 2400-man crew of the United States Marines shipped out from San Diego, went to the Far East, and landed at Atsugi Air Base in Atsugi, Japan. Roscoe and Lee served at that same base for about four months.”

White’s military records show he disembarked at Yokosuka, Japan (NOT Atsugi) on September 12, 1957. The disembark slip was signed by Captain Paul C. Bean. Six days later, on September 18, 1957, White embarked from Tachikawa, Japan via “Govmt Air” and landed at Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa that same day. The slip is signed by W. C. Davis, 1stLT, USMCR.

4] That Oswald and White were together at Atsugi for four months is fiction.

Edwards discussion of Roscoe White’s hardship discharge needs to be reviewed.

Edwards shows a slide of a letter dated November 1st, 1962. It states “… Geneva has had continued difficulty and it would seem that both surgery and probably long-term medical care are essential. Sgt. Roscoe White has been away from (redacted) and home because of military duty.”

Edwards claims, “This is the only document in Roscoe's military file endorsing his request for hardship discharge. The author of the letter knew Roscoe's rank, his wife’s name, and her current medical issues.”

The next slide:

“On November 13, 1962, Roscoe submitted a request to the Commandant of the Marines requesting consideration for a hardship discharge.”

Edwards intones, “This letter, a Speed Letter, was sent by Roscoe to the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps 13 days after they received the 1st letter. If you follow along, the guy endorsed his request before Roscoe requested to be discharged.”

“In the letter Roscoe says, ‘I desire discharge by reason of hardship, I will report (Here Edwards informs the audience - He's telling the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps) I will report to the Commanding Officer, Marine Air Reserve Training Command, Naval Air Station, Dallas, Texas.’” Edwards implies White is telling the Commandant what he’s going to do.

“Just by show of hands who served in the military here? Do you tell the Commandant of the United States military what you’re going to do? They tell you what you're going to do, where you’re going, when you will be there. I find this letter very strange.”

Here he uses the Logical Fallacy “Appeal to Authority.” Those of you who are in the military know this can’t happen. However:

Edwards finds the letter strange because he hasn’t mentioned the many earlier Speed Letters surrounding White’s request. The most important one that calls this part of his presentation into question is from John H. Carroll (by direction) dated 13 Nov 1962.

It states,

From: CMC

To: Sgt E5 Roscoe A White 1666106/0848/3516 USMC

“Sgt. White, your letter 7NOV62 not to all requesting humanitarian transfer not approved. Circumstances presented do not meet criteria established for approval requests this nature. Review conditions warrant consideration for discharge by reason hardship. Provided your desire discharge by reason of hardship your present orders are modified in that upon expiration your current leave you are directed to report to commanding officer, Marine Air Reserve training detachment, Marine Air Reserve Training Command Naval Air Station, Dallas, Texas for temporary duty pending discharge by reason of hardship.” (Emphasis mine)

I cannot believe Edwards does not know of this document. It clearly shows Roscoe, not some unknown person, applied for a hardship discharge on November 6, 1962. Was this information deliberately withheld to make the audience believe White was giving orders to the Commandant?

White was merely responding to a letter he received from the Department of the Navy verifying his receipt of his orders.

5] White did not tell the Commandant what he (White) was going to do.

Around 20 minutes into the presentation a slide is shown of Roscoe White’s police department resignation letter. It is dated October 7th, 1965, indicating he will resign as of October 17th, 1965. Roscoe accepted employment with Pages’ drugstore beginning October 18th, 1965. Edward's notes that Roscoe has signed the letter as patrolman number 1884, Patrol Division, Special Enforcement Detail.

Edwards indicates, “I studied the Dallas police department and there's no Special Enforcement Detail. The only thing close to that is the technical unit. The Special Enforcement Detail, I don't know what that is.”

In the 1960’s Special Enforcement Details were set up to handle crowd control and incidents involving the numerous race related and Vietnam war protests. Over the years training in other areas of law enforcement were added and these units were expanded into what is now known as Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT). Information is easily found on the Internet.

6] Special Enforcement Details did exist.

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In my view, the most important part of the lecture would be discussion of the authenticity of the three cables found secreted in a special cannister. These cables were supposedly sent to White 1] Ordering him to “eliminate a national security threat to worldwide peace.” 2] Indicating the location of the elimination is Dallas and White is to remain “hidden within the (police) department.”, and 3] A team will come in afterward “to cover all misleading evidence soon.”

Edwards spends a mere five and a half minutes of an 80-minute lecture (6%) on the cables! And, once again, conjecture replaces facts.

For example, the cables are signed by C. Bowers (in one instance Bowers misspells his name as Bower) who is in the OSHA department or unit. Edwards points out, “This is not the Occupation and Safety Hazard Administration but the Office of Special Handling Assignments.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Act became law on April 28, 1971. It is obvious that Edwards is correct that the cable’s acronym OSHA means something else. But where is Edwards’ research showing there was an Office of Special Handling Assignments in 1963? He doesn’t provide any.

There is an Air Force program called Special Duty Assignment Category (SPECAT). The purpose is “to provide additional mandatory eligibility qualifications and requirements for special duty assignments (Special Duty Identifiers {SDI} and Reporting Identifiers {RI})”

7] OSHA It would seem what Edwards has done is take the letters OSHA and put his own spin as to the meaning. This process is known as retrofitting. Retrofitting, often used by psychics, is a modification or addition to an existing condition to create a favorable result after the fact.

There are many unresolved issues in this presentation. It would take way too long to deal with them all.

I will conclude with more details that Mr. Edwards failed to discuss.

8] Matsu

On July 25^th, 1989, a company by the name of Matsu was incorporated in Texas for the purpose of looking into the Roscoe White story. This was at the behest of Ricky White. The officers were President - Gary R. Bailey, Secretary/Treasurer/Director – Gary Glasscock, and Director – Brian Sargo.

On that same date, Matsu developed a “Letter of Agreement” between the corporation and Ricky White, Andy Burke, Geneva Ruth White Galey, and Roscoe Anthony White, Jr. The agreement was, “for the express purpose of creating a story centering around and about the life of Roscoe Anthony White, and any and all extenuating ramifications of his life, and subsequent to his death.” (Emphasis mine)

“The Matsu Corporation shall have creative control over creation of the story. “(Emphasis mine)

I found it interesting that creation was the operative word rather than investigation.

9] Richard Abshire and Viking/Penguin Publishing In late 1989 or early 1990 Richard Abshire under the pen name “Dick Anderson” wrote a 38-page book proposal. The proposal was brought to Viking/Penguin Publishing. Representatives of the Whites (including Ricky) met with a Viking/Penguin representative at the Melrose Hotel in New York City in early 1990. Viking/Penguin rejected the synopsis and future book rights due to lack of verifiable “evidence” supporting the story.

10] Kevin Walsh, a private investigator hired by the Assassination Archives and Research Center’s attorney Jim Lesar alerted Lesar (along with Mary Ferrell and J. Gary Shaw) that, “It is my opinion that to go forward tomorrow with public accusations will be irresponsible. I hope to be proven wrong for the sake of the needless embarrassment to innocent individuals.”

Kevin was referring to the Ricky White press conference hosted by the JFK Assassination Information Center and J. Gary Shaw on August 6, 1990.

11] Phillip Jordan, a supposed confidant of Ricky White and potentially the Mexico City Man*, told Kevin Walsh in 1990, “Ricky is likeable and crazy, obsessed with proving his father killed J.F.K. and that he makes a movie or book and money on the story.”

*Researchers later discovered the Mexico City Man was not Jordan but Yuriy Ivanovich Moskalev (q.v.)

12] Attorney Bud Fensterwald along with Jim Lesar formed the Assassination Archives and Research Center in Washington, D.C. At lunch on July 11, 1990, Bud indicated to me and researcher Gus Russo, without revealing details, that they had solved the case.

Later at the Ricky White press conference held August 6, 1990, Bud backed off. He stated that this was, “Ricky White’s story, and if the information checks out upon further investigation, people will have insight into the crime of the century.” This change may have resulted from his seeing the results of the Kevin Walsh investigation.

13] Texas Attorney General Dan Morales issued the following statement on February 2, 1991.

“So far everything we have looked at has not given any credibility to anything these people have been trying to say about the documents and that whole affair”, said Morales’s aide Ron Dusek

Austin American Statesman, February 2, 1991.

14] Oliver Stone, “In what appears to be nothing more than a publicity-seeking hoax, a Texas group that included White's son and widow presented 'evidence' in 1990 that White was the real assassin behind the picket fence.” - Stone, Oliver and Zachary Sklar, JFK - The Documented Screenplay (New York: Applause Books, 1992) p. 20.

15] Donald Morris, (1924/2002) was a United States naval officer, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, novelist, military historian and foreign affairs writer.

On November 26, 1990, Morris, of The Trident Syndicate, provided a five-page report matching the language used in the three documents against known government communications. His review of the wording, paragraph by paragraph concluded:

“Beyond any question, the person who concocted these documents never served in any executive capacity with any arm of the United States government, and has never drafted, handled, or even been exposed to, any form of government communications.”

16] James Hale Jr. of The Northern Arizona Forensic Laboratories was an Examiner of Questioned Documents. He reviewed the cables. Hale produced a 7-page detailed report. He concluded,

“It is apparent that texts of Items A (1-3) were produced by a ‘romantic’ novice typist, considering the chosen lexicon, the use of the capital letter ‘I’ instead of the lower case ‘I’ to represent the numeral ‘1’ in the headings of each document, the misspelling of the word ‘forgein’ (foreign), and the use of the redundant phrase “Reply back if not understood.” It is also apparent the coded lexicon is so clearly understandable; it is intended to convey to the average reader the sinister nature of the messages.”

“Based upon research and analysis, the undersigned (Hale) must avert the evidence does not support its accompanying story, which is, in my opinion, refuted.” Hale gave 22 specific reasons he considered the documents “spurious.”

17] Attorney Lamar Holley – Holley represented the White family in their lawsuit against Arrow Chemical Company. Ricky and Geneva claimed this industrial accident on September 23^rd, 1971, at 4:30 PM was actually a murder. Roscoe was murdered because he would not take on one more assignment.

“Retired Dallas lawyer Lamar Holley represented the White family in a lawsuit against the manufacturer of a flammable chemical that apparently caused the explosion that resulted in Mr. White's death. Mr. Holley said he considered the lawsuit nothing more than a product liability case.”

Geneva White vs. Arrow Chemical Corporation

No. 71-12361-A 14th Judicial District Court of Dallas County, Texas

18] Richard Adair - Adair was burned in the same industrial accident as Roscoe White. He too filed a lawsuit against Arrow Chemical Corporation. I interviewed Mr. Adair on the morning of September 12, 1990. He was dumbfounded by Ricky and Geneva’s claims about Roscoe.

“There was a can of chemical under a workbench that was used to clean cement trucks. There was a leak in the can. I had warned Roscoe several times not to weld near stored cans or containers because you didn't always know what was in them. It was just about closing I had turned away to wash my hands when Roscoe lit the torch and everything went off.”

“Ricky and someone else from Midland visited me in late 1988 or early 1989. The other man asked most of the questions. They wanted to know about the fire. The other man stated he felt that the fire was a successful attempt to kill Roscoe. I was there and I couldn't believe that.”

19] Attorney Michael Sebastian represented Adair in Adair’s lawsuit against Arrow Chemical.

On September 14, 1990 he stated,

“This was a products liability case. The laws concerning labeling were not good. The container was not labeled at all. Roscoe let torch sparks fly into an open container. The City of Dallas was represented by Clifford McMasters. Arrow Chemical was insured through Employer’s Mutual of Wausau with Anton Dirksmeyer of Duncanville handling the case for them.”

Richard Neal Adair vs. Arrow Chemical Corporation

No. 74-4179-C 68^th Judicial District Court of Dallas County Texas

20] Dave Perry on the finding of Roscoe White’s military records.

“OCTOBER 15, 1982 “… the family returned to the Toland home at 2630 W Houston St. (Paris, Texas). On site, Ricky’s cousins found Roscoe’s Marine Corps footlocker in a detached shed at the north edge of the property. Inside the trunk, Ricky found his father's military records, letters from home, and assorted military memorabilia. At the bottom of the footlocker, Ricky found his father's diary.” (p. 275) (Emphasis mine)

In late 1991 I was involved in investigating the Roscoe White story. As part of my investigation, I tried to obtain Roscoe White’s military records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In the end, I was successful. However, one request required an appeal to the Judge Advocate General of the United States Navy. The request was for the names of any other individuals who requested Roscoe White’s military records.

My appeal was upheld. There were two other individuals who requested and received copies.

There was 1] Attorney James Lesar of the Assassination Archives and Research Center in Washington, D.C. Mr. Lesar’s request was approved on November 20, 1990.

Surprisingly number 2] was Ricky White whose request was approved on December 2, 1988.

This begs the question – if Ricky had Roscoe’s military records by October 15, 1982, why was he requesting them again six years later!

“A truth that's told with bad intent, beats all the lies you can invent.”

William Blake, (1757 – 1827) Auguries of Innocence

Dave Perry January 8, 2025