Morcan Books & Films

Political assassinations are probably much more common than we realize. Take for example the 2013 news reports that Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela and long-time perceived enemy of the West, had died of cancer.

Could Chávez’s death have been a creative form of assassination as his supporters have alleged?

The US weekly newspaper American Free Press poses that exact question in an article dated May 20, 2013 in which it suggests Chávez may have been “deliberately infected with a carcinogenic agent”.

Chavez…murdered?

Conservative estimates suggest the CIA has assassinated, or attempted to assassinate, more than 50 foreign leaders over the years, so why not Chávez? And how many leaders of other nations died suddenly, or under unexplained circumstances, before they could implement their long-planned policies?

“How many more political murders disguised as heart attacks, suicides, cancers, drug overdoses? How many plane and car crashes will occur before they are exposed for what they are?”–Monologue delivered by Kevin Costner and written by Oliver Stone in JFK (1991).

From our research we’d have to say it seems distinctly possible that many of the most influential and socially-driven individuals of the past half-century or so died as a result of carefully crafted assassination plots. It’s hard to deny that an alarming number of those who stood for peace, not war, were either killed by deranged lone gunmen or else died in suspicious circumstances. We refer of course to the likes of JFK, Martin Luther King, Benazir Bhutto, Bobby Kennedy and John Lennon, to name but a few.

Could the long list of victims even include the mother of an heir to the British Royal throne?

Death of a princess

In 1997, in a dark tunnel in Paris, France, Princess Diana along with her partner Dodi Fayed were killed in a horrific car crash. Numerous inquiries and investigations all determined the crash was an accident and not a murder, but conspiracy theories stick to Diana’s death as much as they do to JFK’s assassination.

The aftermath of the car crash that ended Princess Diana’s life.

And much like JFK’s death, alternative theories are not just believed by conspiracy theorists or those on the fringes of society. In fact, various polls conducted by the likes of the BBC, CNN and CBS have consistently shown that a quarter to one third of Britons and Americans believe the princess’s death was no accident.

Dodi Fayed’s father, Egyptian business magnate Mohamed Al Fayed, also believes Diana, as well as his son, were murdered in that tunnel in Paris.

In an article in The Guardian dated February 19, 2008 and headlined Nazi Philip wanted Diana dead, Fayed tells inquest, the article begins, “Mohamed Al Fayed branded Prince Philip a “Nazi” and a “racist” in the high court today as he detailed his belief that his son Dodi and Diana, Princess of Wales, were “murdered” in a conspiracy initiated by the royal family and carried out with the involvement of Tony Blair, the security services and others”.

The Harrods store-owner informed the inquest Diana had told him she was pregnant and had agreed to marry his son, according to the same article.

Mohamed Al Fayed’s comments lend weight to what is probably the most widely believed conspiracy theory on Diana’s death: that the British royal family had Diana murdered to avoid a marriage between the mother of the future King of England and an Egyptian Muslim, not to mention the arrival of a Muslim-British Royal baby.

It was never confirmed if Diana was pregnant or not as, strangely, no autopsy was conducted.

As mentioned in chapter 8, Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell stated the Queen had once warned him, “There are powers at work in this country of which we have no knowledge”. Burrell also told an inquest in 1998 that an unnamed British royal had once warned Diana, “You need to be discreet, even in your own home, because they are listening to you all of the time”.

And then in 2003, Burrell published one of Diana’s letters in the Daily Mirror newspaper, revealing that she wrote, “This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous. Xxxxxxx (name redacted) is planning an accident in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry.”

And those words proved to be eerily prophetic in terms of the way she died, if not the reasons why.

The Daily Mirror reported that Diana had actually named the person (Xxxxxxx) she believed was plotting against her, but that the newspaper decided not to publish the individual’s identity for fear of a lawsuit.

Piers Morgan, then editor of the Daily Mirror, said of Diana’s predictive letter, “I think everybody who thought it was accident will think to themselves, well hang on a second, could it be that these wild allegations have any substance?”

Also in chapter 8 we refer to rumored dirty businesses the House of Windsor engages in, such as the arms trade and landmine sales. The latter, in particular, has been a focal point for conspiracy theorists; the fact that Princess Diana fought tirelessly against landmines through her charitable work for the anti-landmine organization the Halo Trust put her at risk and may explain why she was murdered, according to these theories.

However, there’s no proof that the Windsors profit or profited from landmines or other criminal enterprises, so this conspiracy theory seems much more speculative than some others surrounding Diana’s death.

One of the other more out there conspiracy theories is that Osama bin Laden was responsible for killing Diana. This theory suggests the terrorist leader had gotten wind of the Princess’ pregnancy and upcoming marriage to Dodi and was concerned she’d be a bad influence on Muslim women.

There appear to be seemingly infinite plot holes in this particular theory. Plot holes such as how did Bin Laden know Diana was pregnant and why would he even care given he was reportedly so busy blowing up the West.

Besides these questions, the most important question relating to Bin Laden is: Was the terrorist leader still alive in 1997?

Osama Bin Laden

Officially, Bin Laden died in 2011 in Pakistan – but was that really him? Or was Bin Laden just a fabricated and much-needed bad guy manufactured by the Military Industrial Complex to enable it to legitimately wage the so-called War on Terror?

In the FBI’s Vault records, the following is mentioned on the Muslim leader’s file: “Usama (or Osama) Bin Laden, founder of the al Qaeda terrorist organization, was born in Saudi Arabia in 1957. On March 10, 1984, Bin Laden and others killed two German nationals. On March 16, 1998, authorities in Tripoli issued an arrest warrant for him for murder and illegal possession of firearms. Bin Laden was also wanted for the August 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. He was killed by U.S. forces in May 2011.”

Furthermore, FBI records clearly label Bin Laden as the mastermind of 9/11, and as a result he inherited the mantel of Most Wanted during the War on Terror.

To most in the West – mainstream media included – the US Navy Seals’ termination of Bin Laden in Pakistan is where the terrorist leader’s story ends, but not for any conspiracy theorist worth his or her salt. They would argue there are too many unanswered questions and cute coincidences surrounding the man’s death – and surrounding his life, too, for that matter.

And conspiracy theorists aren’t the only ones raising questions. Media reports throughout the Middle East, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan have been awash with quotes from locals purporting to know the truth about Bin Laden. These reports speculate everything from his dying years earlier, even before 9/11, to still being alive and free today.

The Express Tribune, of Pakistan, reported that polls showed two-thirds of Pakistanis did not believe US reports stating Navy Seals had assassinated Bin Laden, and less than a quarter believed he was responsible for the 2001 terrorist acts on American soil.

More recently, Western media has joined in the speculation. For example, leading UK newspaper The Daily Mail ran an article on February 12, 2014 headed, U.S. special forces ordered the destruction of Osama bin Laden’s death photos two weeks after top secret seek and destroy mission to kill him. And The Wall Street Journal reported that an Egyptian bank manager formerly associated with the Muslim extremist claimed to be certain Bin Laden had died many years before the US announced they’d killed him.

Several prominent American celebrities have also publicly voiced their skepticism surrounding US claims regarding Bin Laden’s demise.

Bin Laden watches TV in his Pakistani safehouse.

Shortly after Bin Laden’s death was announced, former US Navy Seal Jesse Ventura made an interesting observation in a television interview that aired on CNN in June 2011. He reminded viewers of earlier reports stating “Bin Laden was on a dialysis machine 10 years ago.” Ventura added, “Experts have said the disease he suffered from is generally fatal within two years. How did he manage to survive 10?”

And back in 2007, American hip-hop artist and film star Mos Def appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher where he called Bin Laden a “boogeyman” and implied his whole existence was nothing more than a fabrication by the US Government to blame 9/11 on.

But let’s return to the crux of the story…After more than a decade of failing to find Bin Laden, suddenly he’s tracked, located and then killed? All in one evening? And on top of that, there’s not one shred of evidence to prove any of this occurred?

An aerial view of Bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan (above) and the compound up close (below). 

As President Obama and his team of intelligence advisors watched real-time footage of Bin Laden’s termination in the comfort of the White House’s situation room, it was reported the then-director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, Michael Leiter, was first to speak. Apparently, Leiter said, “Holy shit!”

That’s not all he said, but bear with us. We just want to draw out the suspense a little.

“I don’t need facial recognition,” Leiter reportedly added. “We just killed Bin Laden!”

So clearly, nobody on American soil knew for a fact it was Bin Laden.

What about in Pakistan then? Surely, someone confirmed they’d just taken out the most wanted man on the planet?

Well, you’d think so, wouldn’t you? But this is where it gets a little murky.

After what seemed a surprisingly short period of time, a White House spokesman informed the world’s media that Bin Laden’s body had been flown to the USS Carl Vinson aircraft-carrier in the Arabian Sea where it (the body) was cast overboard in a weighted bag. The spokesman said this was all done “in conformance with Islamic precepts and practices”.

What the…?

Did we hear that right? Instead of keeping evidence in conformance with Western precepts and practices, the United States of America vetoed its own laws and diligently adhered to the customs and religious rituals of the world’s most wanted terrorist and those of the country that harbored him?

Again: What the…?

Remember, the bodies of Saddam Hussein’s sons, Uday and Qusay, were kept for 11 days before finally being buried. America didn’t go out of its way to follow Islamic protocols on that occasion, and nobody in the West complained about that.

But wait, it gets stranger still…

The Obama Administration released an image (above) to the media showing President Obama, Hillary Clinton and other members of the National Security team watching the raid live. According to the Administration, the footage came from a camera attached to a Navy Seal’s helmet. However, this was contradicted when CIA director Leon Panetta emphatically stated the feed had gone dead “for around 20 to 25 minutes” during the raid.

If the CIA director is correct, does that mean the photo of Obama, Clinton and others was staged in order to sell a story? What other conclusion could be drawn?

American anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed on duty in Iraq, also questioned how the US had matched Bin Laden’s DNA with a member of the terrorist’s family in less than 24 hours. “The only proof of Osama being dead again that we were offered,” Sheehan wrote on her Facebook page as CNN reported on May 5, 2011, “was Obama telling us that there was a DNA match between the man killed by the Navy SEALs and OBL. Even if it is possible to get DNA done so quickly, and the regime did have bin Laden DNA lying around a lab somewhere — where is the empirical proof?”

Cindy Sheehan in front of the White House.

Sheehan concluded her Facebook post, “I am sorry, but if you believe the newest death of OBL, you’re stupid.”

Wikipedia accurately summarizes the persistent conspiracy theory surrounding the terrorist leader as follows: “Doubts about bin Laden’s death were fueled by the U.S. military’s disposal of his body at sea,the decision to not release any photographic or DNA evidence of bin Laden’s death to the public,the contradicting accounts of the incident (with the official story on the raid appearing to change or directly contradict previous assertions),and the 25-minute blackout during the raid on bin Laden’s compound during which a live feed from cameras mounted on the helmets of the U.S. special forces was cut off”.

Maybe all this smoke around Bin Laden’s demise doesn’t indicate a fire. And maybe all the perceived plot holes were caused by an unfortunate series of coincidences and misunderstandings – the type that lead to conspiracy theories blossoming out of nothing.

Hmmm…Those are big maybes.

“An ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination.” –Voltaire

MLK

On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King (MLK) was shot dead in Memphis, Tennessee. After a large-scale international investigation, small-time criminal and WW2 war veteran James Earl Ray was captured and charged with the murder. Ray entered a guilty plea and on March 10, 1969 he was convicted for the murder and sentenced to 99 years.

So that’s it? How can anyone create a conspiracy theory on this case when the convicted murderer pleaded guilty, we hear you ask?

Well, it’s complicated. Ain’t it always! And numerous unanswered questions remain.

For example, why did Memphis police withdraw MLK’s police protection the day before he was killed? This despite the civil rights activist having received more than 50 death threats and being the known target of many groups all over America.

Also, James Earl Ray later recanted his confession and attempted to gain a new trial. Like Lee Harvey Oswald, he claimed he was a patsy.

Need more convincing evidence to support this conspiracy theory? Don’t worry, it’s coming, but we like to release it slowly…again, to build the tension.

Even the 1977-78 House Select Committee on Assassinations found there was a “likelihood” that Ray did not act alone. This supports the contention of many that there was a major conspiracy to murder MLK. The House also discussed whether the CIA had been involved in the murder as the agency’s antagonism toward him was well documented.

Besides the CIA, the African-American’s long list of enemies included no less than FBI director J. Edgar Hoover who is said to have hated MLK’s guts.

In 1993, a surprising twist occurred when Loyd Jowers, owner of the Memphis bar opposite the motel where MLK was shot, made a confession of sorts. Jowers told ABC TV that he’d been asked – by Memphis police as well as government agents – to aid the planned assassination.

Perhaps most tellingly, MLK’s family never believed James Earl Ray was responsible for the murder. King’s wife Coretta Scott King and their son Dexter Scott King are on record as saying they believe in a far-reaching assassination conspiracy involving the FBI, the CIA, the US Army and even President Johnson.

Dexter met with James Earl Ray in prison and believed him to be innocent. He pushed for a retrial, but Ray died the following year (1998) of Hepatitis C before any retrial could take place.

Below: MLK (center) shortly before the fatal gunshot.

On the night of MLK’s death, Robert F. Kennedy (RFK), New York’s then Senator who was on the US Presidency campaign trail, chose to deliver the sad news to the people of Indianapolis in person.

The Indianapolis police department warned RFK they wouldn’t be able to provide adequate protection should the crowd riot, which they felt likely given he’d be speaking in an African-American neighborhood.

RFK was unfazed. He delivered a profound speech to the people of Indianapolis in which he shared his own personal sufferings following the assassination of his brother JFK. He also spoke of the need to follow in Martin Luther King’s footsteps.

“What we need in the United States is not division,” RFK said. “What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom and compassion toward one another, a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.”

After RFK’s heartfelt speech that evening, Indianapolis was quiet and mourned MLK’s passing in peace while major cities throughout America experienced a wave of riots.

Two months after giving that speech, RFK was also assassinated.

                                                                   MLK and RFK…in happier times.

“RFK must die”

It seems likely MK-Ultra or a Manchurian Candidate, or possibly both, may have been involved in the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, the US Presidential candidate most political analysts agree would have been elected President had he lived.

As mentioned earlier, The Orphan Factory climaxes with a political assassination in the Amazon jungle. Nine and Seventeen, the orphan-operatives charged with carrying out the assassination, tell themselves over and over in their own minds, “Quamina Ezekiel must die.” They are not sure why they’re repeating this phrase to themselves; the implication is they’re under the influence of mind control.

In the writing of that sequence, we include mind control triggers based on alternative theories surrounding some of the most well-known lone gunmen of the 20^th Century. But more than any other real-world assassination, this section of our novel was directly inspired by reports of RFK’s convicted killer, Sirhan Sirhan.

By all accounts, on the fateful evening of June 5, 1968, the Palestinian-Jordanian assassin appeared to be in a hypnotic state at the scene of the crime – the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Many believe Sirhan Sirhan was a Manchurian Candidate diligently following instructions his conscious mind was not even aware of.

The prevailing professional opinion is RFK’s assassin has never been able to remember anything of that night – not entering the hotel, not the killing itself and not leaving the hotel in handcuffs. Nothing.

Apparently, Sirhan Sirhan’s’s only vague memory fragment, if it can be described as that, was said to be a vision of a typewriter he remembered observing all night long as it automatically typed a series of orders for him to follow.

All the evidence at hand seems to indicate Sirhan Sirhan was a brainwashed assassin or, at the very least, he was in a hypnotized state when he pulled the trigger of his .22 caliber revolver.

We refer to his memory blackouts; the reports of multiple witnesses claiming he looked like he was in “a trance”; the psychiatrist who testified at the ensuing court case that Sirhan Sirhan was in a trance state on the night of the crime; and especially the diaries found in his home by the LAPD – diaries whose pages were filled with Sirhan’s scribbled handwriting.

Over and over, the words “RFK must die” filled the pages of those diaries. Handwriting analysis indicated the writing was automatic writing, meaning Sirhan Sirhan was not conscious of what he was writing.

                                                          RFK and that moment of horror.

Another curious fact supporting the hypnotism and mind control theory was that the Jordanian passport-holder had earlier joined the Rosicrucians, an occult group also known as the Ancient Mystical Order of the Rose Cross. When several psychiatrists assessed him to be in a hypnotized state after the assassination, Sirhan Sirhan’s Rosicrucian membership was treated by many as suspicious, especially as trance and hypnotism are a known part of the group’s teachings.

Defence attorney Dr. Bernard Diamond tried to dismiss his client’s undeniable hypnotized state by claiming Sirhan Sirhan must have hypnotized himself.

If the assassin was a Manchurian Candidate, the range of suspects could include anyone from the CIA or the Mafia to occultists or the Military Industrial Complex. Many believe the latter to be the culprit, especially as Kennedy had stated he would immediately end the Vietnam War were he to become President.

In a 2011 parole hearing, Sirhan Sirhan’s new lawyer, Dr. William Pepper, said his client had been “hypno programmed” and he alluded to the Manchurian Candidate theory.

Seventeen trained the rifle’s telescopic sight on the wind flags in the compound and was relieved to see they barely fluttered. The air was mercifully still. That was important to her. She was very aware wind made a sniper’s task all the more difficult. A strong or swirling wind could turn a normally straightforward kill shot into a lottery. –The Orphan Factory

In book two of our international thriller series The Orphan Trilogy, two orphan-operatives are tasked as young adults with carrying out a political assassination deep in Guyana’s Amazon rainforest. There’s much at stake: a successful mission will enable the global elite to control the country’s natural resources.

Ezekiel’s head was in the center of the crosshairs of Seventeen’s telescopic sight. As she prepared for the shot, the only sound she could hear was Kentbridge’s voice in her mind. Her mentor sounded like a broken record. Quamina Ezekiel must die. Quamina Ezekiel must die. Quamina Ezekiel must die. –The Orphan Factory

The Smiling Pope

Pope John Paul I, who was nicknamed the Smiling Pope due to his forever-cheerful demeanor, was elected the Catholic Pope on August 26, 1978. Just 33 days later, at 5am on September 28, John Paul I was found dead, marking the end of one of the shortest reigns in papal history.

Initially, the Vatican stated his body was discovered by papal secretaries, and that John Paul I was found propped up in bed still holding a copy of Thomas Kempis’ book, Imitation of Christ, which he’d apparently been reading. Then the Vatican’s story suddenly changed. They now said their first statement had in fact been wrong and John Paul I was actually discovered by a nun.

What was also strange in regard to the death of the Smiling Pope was the speed of events that unfolded afterwards. Not long after the nun apparently found John Paul I, a papal doctor declared the Pope had died of a heart attack, and that was that; by 5.15pm that same day, the Vatican’s embalmers arrived on the scene and immediately began work on the corpse before any autopsy could be done.

If you think all this sounds worthy of a Dan Brown novel, you’re not alone.

Conspiracy theories abound on John Paul I’s death. Possible conspirators include international banksters operating within the Vatican Bank, Freemasons and even the Vatican itself. In fact, that’s the most common theory – that it was an inside job.

Despite his constant smile, Pope John Paul I was apparently hell-bent on reforming the Vatican, and many have argued the Catholic powers that be were simply protecting their position by assassinating him.

Top of the Smiling Pope’s to-do list was said to have been fixing the large scale corruption he believed existed within the Vatican Bank. The same religious financial institution which only a few decades earlier had lucrative collaborations with Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime and Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party, and had strayed into many other areas not generally associated with the Holy Spirit, was about to be brought into line.

According to this murder theory, Vatican banksters weren’t too keen on being reformed. Nor did they resonate with the possibility of being forced to confess their sins, so they sent the Pope to an early grave.

In a case of circumstantial evidence, the President of the Vatican Bank in 1978 was American archbishop Paul Marcinkus who just happened to be seen walking briskly through the Vatican at dawn and around the exact time Pope John Paul I had died. That could obviously be a coincidence, but then again Marcinkus wasn’t known for early morning walks.

Conspiracy theorists also say the Pope was assassinated by non-money men in the Vatican for other planned radical reforms, including allowing for Catholics around the world to practice contraception.

If Pope John Paul I didn’t die of natural causes, the common consensus between researchers and even many Catholics is that there are more than enough dark factions operating within the Vatican to have carried out such a murder.

“It’s difficult to believe that the death was natural,” said an aide to the French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, “considering all the creatures of the devil who inhabit the Vatican.”

Hell, if American Presidents can be assassinated by their own countrymen while in office, is it really so hard to believe a Catholic Pope could be killed by members of the Vatican?

She couldn’t even hear Kentbridge’s voice now. All she could hear was her beating heart. She emptied her lungs of air then, between heartbeats, gently squeezed the trigger. The shot shattered the silence. Staring through his binoculars, Nine waited for what seemed an eternity before he saw the results of Seventeen’s shot. In fact it was only two seconds, maybe three. The target’s head seemed to explode, like a ripe melon. “Target is down!” he exclaimed as Ezekiel fell to the ground.–The Orphan Factory

Marilyn Monroe

The world famous sex symbol’s demise has attracted almost as many conspiracy theories as have the deaths of her reported lovers JFK and RFK. Some argue suicide does not make sense considering Monroe was about to reunite with baseball star and first husband Joe DiMaggio who was said to be the love of her life.

One of the many mysteries surrounding Monroe’s death was the amount of time it took for anybody to alert the police. The nearest police station to her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, was only three miles away and yet the police weren’t summoned until the following day (August 5) at 4.30am – a full six hours after Monroe’s publicist and other associates had been called to the house and found her dead.

On arrival at the film star’s residence, one policeman reportedly took one look at the pill bottles neatly arranged next to the bed, as well as the perfectly aligned position of Monroe’s body on the bed, and said it was “the most obviously staged death I have ever seen.”

In other oddities, the housekeeper had already removed all of the deceased’s bed linen by the time the police arrived; all Marilyn’s diaries had mysteriously vanished; despite all the pill bottles by her bed, an autopsy revealed her stomach contained no tablet residue whatsoever; and perhaps most alarmingly, her body was covered in bruises.

According to conspiracy theorists, Monroe didn’t commit suicide, but was killed by global elitists for knowing too much. The sex symbol’s affairs with both JFK and RFK have been well-documented and some say the Mafia, who financially backed the Kennedy family, were responsible for killing her because she’d become an embarrassment to President Kennedy. CIA memos and FBI records since leaked and/or declassified appear to confirm she may have been killed for knowing too much.

Marilyn and the Kennedys…forever linked.

In the end though, Monroe’s death remains a mystery and we are unlikely to ever know with absolute certainty how she died.

As Donald Wolfe, author of The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, said, “People don’t really want to know what actually happened to her. I think they would prefer the mystery, because what really happened to her is a rather dark story”.

John Lennon

Most people old enough remember exactly where they were when they heard the news that John Lennon was shot dead in New York City on December 8, 1980. The murderer was Mark David Chapman – yet another lone gunman who stood glassy-eyed at the crime scene waiting for the police to arrive. A witness to the shooting asked him if he was aware what he’d just done. “I just shot John Lennon,” Chapman calmly replied.

In the court case that followed, Chapman’s defence team included psychiatrist Dr. Bernard Diamond. Recognize that name? That’s right, he’s the very same psychiatrist who assessed Sirhan Sirhan’s mental state and, as per his assessment of RFK’s assassin, Dr. Diamond stated Chapman was completely insane. Little mention was made of the fact that Chapman was a former World Vision employee who worked as a children’s counsellor in refugee camps in Asia and the Middle East.

Author Fenton Bresler put forward the theory in his book Who Killed John Lennon? that while Chapman was working in Beirut he fell into the orbit of CIA agents who drugged and brainwashed him as part of the ongoing MK-Ultra program.

What is known is shortly after beginning his charity work in Beirut, Chapman began to exhibit mental illness and was hospitalized as a result. Who he associated with from that point on is not known.

Assuming Chapman was yet another Manchurian Candidate and Lennon wasn’t killed randomly, then who on earth would have wanted to kill the peace-loving singer?

Most conspiracy theorists and many researchers point the finger at the US Government for singer-songwriter Lennon was a known threat to the political order of that time. This threat was primarily due to two reasons: his fearless opinions that he gave freely to the press and the sheer size of his following, which was almost unprecedented.

FBI records and other Government files on Lennon indicate the Establishment viewed him as a very dangerous activist. For example, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover personally wrote on Lennon’s file: “ALL EXTREMISTS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED DANGEROUS.”

Another such file said the ex-Beatle, who by then was a US resident, was able to “draw one million anti-war protestors in any given city in 24 hours”. That is some serious influence, and judging by the declassified files it’s obvious the Military Industrial Complex viewed Lennon as a potential stumbling block to their plans for future wars.

Sean Lennon, the son of John and Yoko, told the New Yorker in April 1998 that his father “was dangerous to the government” and “If he had said ‘Bomb the White House tomorrow,’ there would have been 10,000 people who would have done it. These pacifist revolutionaries are historically killed by the government”.

The only thing counting against this whole premise is that Lennon was killed in 1980 – long after the likes of JFK, RFK, MLK and others were killed and long after the civil unrest of the 1960’s and early 1970’s had faded. It was a different political and social climate by then with less foreign wars and less volatility within America. Some have even argued that Lennon’s star power was waning, at least slightly, by 1980.

Of course, it’s not known what Lennon was planning at the time of his death, and for all anyone knows the authorities may have gotten wind of some radical peace movement he was hatching.

To add yet another curiosity to the mix, while Chapman patiently waited for the police to arrive and arrest him, he stood at the scene of the crime reading a copy of The Catcher in the Rye. Many conspiracy theorists believe that finding this particular book in the hands of an assassin is no mere coincidence. Regardless, it must have been a macabre sight to see Lennon lying dead on the ground with his murderer standing over him happily reading J.D. Salinger’s classic novel. (See chapter 27 for more mysteries surrounding The Catcher in the Rye).

November 22, 1963. Dallas, Texas.

Of all conspiracy theories, the cover-up after JFK’s assassination in Dallas, Texas, is one that nearly everyone believes.

All the evidence screams foul play – from eye witness testimonies contradicting the official report to the ridiculous Magic Bullet explanation, the suspected murders of numerous witnesses and suspects, the Dallas doctors’ conflicting reports on the body and the official Government line. Not to mention Lee Harvey Oswald’s still classified 1962 tax return, something many researchers believe can be attributed to the fact that Oswald was receiving US Government cheques and was on their payroll.

But really, what is there to say about JFK’s assassination that hasn’t been said before? It’s the mother of all conspiracies and has spawned a million theories. We certainly won’t add to them, except to say the official explanation provided by the US Government seems about as realistic as the plot of a bad B-movie.

In the interests of doing some serious investigative reporting – finally, we hear you say! – we uncovered these immortal words uttered by action movie star Bruce Willis in May 2007 to Vanity Fair: “They still haven’t caught the guy that killed Kennedy. I’ll get killed for saying this, but I’m pretty sure those guys are still in power, in some form … The entire government of the United States was co-opted.”

Yippee ki yay, Mister Willis, yippee ki yay!

Okay, that’s enough investigative reporting for the moment.

“It would certainly be interesting to know what the CIA knew about Oswald six weeks before the assassination, but the contents of this particular message never reached the Warren Commission and remain a complete mystery.” –Jim Garrison, former District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Louisiana.

As many a Tinfoil Hatter has pointed out over the years, the most infamous assassins of the 20^th Century all had three names, including Lee Harvey Oswald, Mark David Chapman, James Earl Ray. What about Sirhan Sirhan, we hear you ask? Him too, actually, as his full name, which was rarely reported by the media, was Sirhan Bashira Sirhan.

So what does this three-name assassin point prove? Absolutely nothing, of course.

Remember, the hallmark of a good conspiracy theory is it cannot be proven! It’s a weird coincidence nevertheless. And coincidences seem to be the norm when it comes to the deaths of the most famous, influential and politically-threatening figures of recent decades…

Read more in The Orphan Conspiracies: 29 Conspiracy Theories from The Orphan Trilogy – available now via Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Orphan-Conspiracies-Conspiracy-Theories-ebook/dp/B00J4MPFT6/

A book that’s for the common people.

Not all is what it seems! –James & Lance

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