Clay Shaw

This is an article about the New Orleans businessman. See E. Clay Shaw, Jr. for an article about the politician from Florida.

Clay Shaw
Born	March 17, 1913 Kentwood, Louisiana, United States
Died	August 15, 1974(1974-08-15) (aged 61) New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Cause of death	Lung cancer with metastasis to brain and liver
Nationality	American
Occupation	Businessman and director of the International Trade Mart in New Orleans
Known for	Head of the International Trade Mart; charged for being part of a conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy.

Clay Laverne Shaw (March 17, 1913 – August 15, 1974) was a businessman in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the only person prosecuted in connection with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and was found not guilty.

Biography

Shaw was honorably discharged from the United States Army as a major in 1946. He served as secretary to the General Staff and was decorated by three nations: the United States with the Legion of Merit and Bronze Star, by France with the Croix de Guerre and named Chevalier de l'Ordre du Merite, and by Belgium named Chevalier of the Order of the Crown of Belgium.^[1]

After World War II Shaw helped start the International Trade Mart in New Orleans which facilitated the sales of both domestic and imported goods. He was known locally for his efforts to preserve buildings in New Orleans' historic French Quarter.^[2]

Arrest

New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison prosecuted Clay Shaw on the charge that Shaw and a group of right-wing activists, including David Ferrie and Guy Banister, were involved in a conspiracy with elements of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the John F. Kennedy assassination. Garrison arrested Shaw on March 1, 1967.^[3] Garrison believed that Clay Shaw was the man named as "Clay Bertrand" in the Warren Commission Report. Garrison said that Shaw used the alias "Clay Bertrand" among New Orleans' gay society.^[4][5]

The trial

Main article: Trial of Clay Shaw

During the trial, which took place in January–February 1969, Garrison called insurance salesman Perry Russo^[6] as his main witness. Russo testified that he had attended a party at the apartment of anti-Castro activist David Ferrie. At the party, Russo said that Lee Harvey Oswald (who Russo said was introduced to him as "Leon Oswald"), David Ferrie, and "Clem Bertrand" (who Russo identified in the courtroom as Clay Shaw) had discussed killing Kennedy.^[7] The conversation included plans for the "triangulation of crossfire" and alibis for the participants.^[8]

Critics of Garrison argue that his own records indicate that Russo's story had evolved over time.^[9] A key source was the "Sciambra Memo," which recorded Assistant D.A. Andrew Sciambra's^[10] first interview with Russo. The memo does not mention an "assassination party," and it says that Russo met with Shaw on two occasions, neither of which occurred at the party.^[11] Sciambra blamed himself for leaving out the Shaw/Ferrie/Oswald party episode in his memo. It was an omission that Shaw's attorneys were able to exploit by raising questions about the validity of Russo's testimony.^[12]

Another Garrison witness, Charles Spiesel, said, under cross examination, that he had filed a lawsuit in 1964 against a psychiatrist and the City of New York. He testified that, over a period of several years, the police and others had hypnotized him and harassed him out of business. He also said that he regularly fingerprinted his children, lest they had been replaced with cloned lookalikes by the US Government.^[13] Spiesel had been called as a witness for his claim that he had attended a gathering where Clay Shaw was present and identified himself as "Clay Bertrand". Land titles records showed the building where Spiesel claimed to have met Shaw was indeed owned by Shaw at the time of the alleged meeting.

On March 1, 1969 Shaw was unanimously acquitted less than one hour after the case went to the jury.^[14][15][16]

Aftermath

Garrison later wrote a book about his investigation of Clay Shaw and the subsequent trial called On the Trail of the Assassins. In the book, Garrison states that Shaw had an "extensive international role as an employee of the CIA".^[17] Shaw denied any such connections.^[18]

In 1979, Richard Helms, former director of the CIA, testified under oath that Clay Shaw had been a part-time contact of the Domestic Contact Service of the CIA, where Shaw volunteered information from his travels abroad, mostly to Latin America.^[19] By the mid-1970s, 150,000 Americans (businessmen, journalists, etc.) had provided such information to the DCS.

In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations stated in its Final Report that the Committee was "inclined to believe that Oswald was in Clinton [Louisiana] in late August, early September 1963, and that he was in the company of David Ferrie, if not Clay Shaw,"^[20] and that witnesses in Clinton, Louisiana "established an association of an undetermined nature between Ferrie, Shaw and Oswald less than three months before the assassination".^[21]

Death

Shaw died on August 15, 1974(1974-08-15) (aged 61) about 12:40 AM at his residence, 1022 St. Peter Street.^[22] The death certificate was signed by Dr. Hugh M. Batson, with the cause of death listed as metastatic lung cancer.^[23]

Fictional portrayals

Shaw was portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones in Oliver Stone's 1991 film JFK. Jones received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role.

References

1. ^ "Clay L. Shaw", Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 9: 1971-75. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1994.
2. ^ Milton E. Brener, The Garrison Case (New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1969), pp. 62-64; Patricia Lambert, False Witness (New York: M. Evans and Co., 1998), pp. 48-49; Paris Flammonde, The Kennedy Conspiracy (New York: Meredith Press, 1969), pp. 71-74; Clay Shaw testimony, State of Louisiana v. Clay L. Shaw, February 27, 1969 "The JFK 100: Who Was Clay Shaw?"
3. ^ Chriss, Nicholas C (March 2, 1967). "New Orleans Civic Leader Accused. Quizzed for Five Hour's About Conspiracy in Assassination". New York Times. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/510216142.html?dids=510216142:510216142&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Mar+02,+1967&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=JFK+PLOT+ARREST&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2010-04-12. 
4. ^ James Phelan, Scandals, Scamps, and Scoundrels, pp. 150-51. (ISBN 0-394-48196-8)
5. ^ Garrison, Jim. On The Trail of the Assassins, (New York: Sheridan Square Press, 1988), pp. 85-86. ISBN 0-941781-02-X
6. ^ Biography of Perry Russo
7. ^ Testimony of Perry Raymond Russo, State of Louisiana vs. Clay L. Shaw, February 10, 1969.
8. ^ Testimony of Perry Raymond Russo, State of Louisiana vs. Clay L. Shaw, February 10, 1969.
9. ^ "Way Too Willing Witness". Jfkassassination.net. http://www.jfkassassination.net/willing.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-17. 
10. ^ Direct Examination of Assistant District Attorney Andrew Sciambra by Defense Attorney Alcock, State of Louisiana vs. Clay L. Shaw, February 12, 1969.
11. ^ "The Sciambra Memo". http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russo2.txt. Retrieved 2010-09-17. 
12. ^ The Two Sciambra Memos
13. ^ "Attempt to Use Insane Witness Blows Up In Garrison's Face". Mcadams.posc.mu.edu. 1969-02-08. http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/jimlie7.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-17. 
14. ^ Clay Shaw Interview, Penthouse, November 1969, pp. 34-35.
15. ^ Clay Shaw Trial Transcripts, February 28, 1969, page 47. [1]
16. ^ Andrew 'Moo Moo' Sciambra, who worked on Jim Garrison investigation of JFK assassination, dies at age 75. Wednesday, July 28, 2010 by John Pope, The Times-Picayune [2]
17. ^ Garrison, Jim. On The Trail of the Assassins, (New York: Sheridan Square Press, 1988), p. 87 ISBN 0-941781-02-X
18. ^ James Phelan (2007). "The Penthouse Interview with Clay Shaw". Penthouse magazine. http://www.jfk-online.com/penthouse.html. Retrieved 2007-12-18. 
19. ^ "The Lie that Linked CIA to the Kennedy Assassination"
20. ^ HSCA Final Assassinations Report, House Select Committee on Assassinations, p. 145
21. ^ HSCA Final Assassinations Report, House Select Committee on Assassinations, p. 143
22. ^ Bird, David (August 16, 1974). "Clay Shaw Is Dead at 60. Freed in Kennedy 'Plot'. New Orleans Businessman Accused of Planning President's Murder. Doubts Are Cited. Both 'Plotters' Dead". New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20B1FFB3A551A7493C4A81783D85F408785F9. Retrieved 2010-04-12. 
23. ^ "Clay Shaw: Mysterious Death?". mcadams. Date of Report 8-28-74. http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/death9.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-19. 

Further reading

• Biles, Joe (2002). In History's Shadow: Lee Harvey Oswald, Kerry Thornley & the Garrison Investigation. Lincoln, NE: Writers Club Press. ISBN 0595224555. 
• Brener, Milton (1969). The Garrison Case: A Study in the Abuse of Power. New York: C. N. Potter. 
• DeEugenio, James (1992). Destiny Betrayed: JFK, Cuba, and the Garrison Case. New York: Sheridan Square Press. ISBN 1879823004. 
• Davy, William (1999). Let Justice Be Done: New Light on the Jim Garrison Investigation. Reston, VA: Jordan Pub. ISBN 0966971604. 
• Garrison, Jim (1970). A Heritage of Stone. Putnam Publishing Group. ISBN 0399103988. 
• Garrison, Jim (1988). On the Trail of the Assassins. New York: Sheridan Square Press. ISBN 0446362778. 
• Holland, Max (2001). "The Power of Disinformation: The Lie that Linked CIA to the Kennedy Assassination". Studies in Intelligence 11 (Fall-Winter). 
• Kirkwood, James (1992). American Grotesque: An Account of the Clay Shaw-Jim Garrison-Kennedy Assassination Trial in New Orleans. New York: HarperPerennial. ISBN 0060975237. 
• Lambert, Patricia (2000). False Witness: The Real Story of Jim Garrison's Investigation and Oliver Stone's Film 'JFK'. New York: M. Evans. ISBN 0871319209. 
• Marrs, Jim (1989). Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0881846481. 
• Mellen, Joan (2005). A Farewell to Justice: Jim Garrison, JFK's Assassination, and the Case That Should Have Changed History. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books. ISBN 1574889737. 
• Summers, Anthony (1998). Not in Your Lifetime. New York: Marlowe & Company. ISBN 1569247390. 
• Weisberg, Harold (1967). Oswald in New Orleans: Case for Conspiracy with the C.I.A.. New York: Canyon Books. 

External links

• Jim Garrison and New Orleans
• Louisiana v. Shaw (1969) trial transcript
• Orleans Parish Grand Jury transcripts
• Esquire December 1968 interview with Clay Shaw, James Kirkwood
• Penthouse interview with Clay Shaw
• Jim Garrison Interview, Playboy magazine, Eric Norden, October 1967
• JFK Online: Jim Garrison audio resources - mp3s of Garrison speaking
• The JFK 100: One Hundred Errors of Fact and Judgment in Oliver Stone's JFK: Who was Clay Shaw?
• Garrison's Case Finally Coming Together by Martin Shackelford
• Garrison's Case for Conspiracy, Real History Archives
• JFK Online: Jim Garrison audio resources - mp3s of Garrison speaking
• CIA Counterintelligence Director James Angleton Spying on a Garrison Witness, Real History Archives
• Joan Mellen speaks about her book, "A Farewell to Justice: Jim Garrison, JFK's Assassination and the Case That Should Have Changed History" at the Ethical Culture Society in New York City, January 24, 2006.

Persondata
Name	Shaw, Clay
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 17, 1913
Place of birth	Kentwood, Louisiana, United States
Date of death	August 15, 1974
Place of death	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States