Richard
Cain was born in Chicago on 5th October,
1931. Cain became involved in criminal activity and eventually began
working for Mafia boss, Sam
Giancana.
In their book, Double Cross (1992),
Charles and Sam Giancana (Sam's half-brother and nephew) claim that
Cain, along with Charlie
Nicoletti, were
the two gunman who killed President John
F. Kennedy.
The authors claim that it was Cain, rather than Lee
Harvey Oswald,
who fired from the 6th Floor of the Texas Book Depository.
In
1996 Eric Hamburg claimed that Cain
worked with Dave Yarras and Lenny Patrick
in the assassination of Kennedy in Dallas. This statement was based
on information obtained from Claudia Furiati, a Brazilian journalist.
Later that year Peter Dale Scott suggested
that Cain was implicated in the assassination as a result of his links
with Johnny Roselli and John
Martino.
Richard
Cain
was shot dead on 20th December, 1973, at Rose's Sandwich Shop in Chicago.
Since then researchers such as Larry
Hancock and
Michael Cain (Richard's younger brother), have investigated the case
and have been unable to find any evidence that shows Richard Cain
was involved in the assassination of John
F. Kennedy.
Open
Debate on the Kennedy Assassination
(1)
Charles
and Sam Giancana, Double Cross (1992)
From Chicago, Mooney brought
in Richard Cain, Chuckie Nicoletti, and Milwaukee Phil, all having
worked previously on "the Bay of Pigs deal". Mooney said
that both Cain and Nicoletti were actual gunmen for the hit, being
placed at opposite ends of the Dallas Book Depository, In fact, he
asserted it was Cain, not Oswald who'd actually fired from the infamous
sixth story window.
(2)
Eric Hamburg was a congressional staff assistant who was involved
in the passage of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination
Records Collection Act of 1992. Hamburg gave evidence in Los
Angeles on 17th September, 1996.
As you may know, the House
Select Committee on Assassinations did visit Cuba and met with Fidel
Castro and other Cuban officials in pursuit of any information relevant
to their inquiry. I believe in 1978. I would strongly recommend that
this Board do likewise. Notwithstanding the fact that the United States
does not maintain diplomatic relations with Cuba, I believe that the
Cuban Government would be receptive to such an approach and would
be willing to produce files and documents which have not yet been
made public. This is a treasure-trove of information that has not
yet been tapped and could be one of the most productive areas of inquiry
left to be explored.
I'd just like to mention
some specific points in trying to be helpful and put some new information
on the record which has not been made public to my knowledge. Specifically
General Escalante has stated in interviews conducted for the book
ZR Rifle by Claudia Furiati, a Brazilian journalist, that he believes
two Cuban exiles, Alatio DeValle and Herminio Diaz Garcia, took part
in the assassination in Dallas. He told me that this was based on
informant reports by Cuban sources which are in their files. He also
named three Chicago Mafia figures, Dave Yaras, Lenny Patrick and Richard
Cain, which he believes were in Dallas and also involved in the plot.
Again this is based, he says, on their informant reports. It would
be very important to retain any documents which Cuba could provide
to substantiate these claims, and he did show me files of such documents.
But I did not retain copies of them. I am not an official representative
of the U.S. Government, but they do exist.
(3)
Peter Dale Scott, Bringing
It All Together (November, 1996)
Richard Cain, John Roselli,
and John Martino were all close, through both their mob connections
and their work for the CIA. All three of them later professed knowledge
about the assassination. In 1963 the CIA recruited Richard Cain to
spy on a Cuban in Chicago, Paulino Sierra, whom the CIA rightly suspected
was recruiting Cuban exiles they mistrusted for an operation sponsored
by Robert Kennedy. Meanwhile John Martino (who before he died claimed
knowledge of a plot involving Oswald) was involved with Miami CIA
elements in an operation designed to frustrate Kennedy's Soviet policies,
and possibly to set up the Rosselli "turn-around" story,
blaming the Kennedy assassination on a team recruited to kill Castro.
Two and possibly three of the future Watergate burglars were also
collecting dirt (including false stories) on Paulino Sierra for the
CIA. These false stories may explain why Bobby Kennedy, on November
22, told Paulino Sierra's boss (Harry Ruiz-Williams), "one of
your boys did it." (We now know that Bobby Kennedy's staff reacted
strongly to the first publication of the Rosselli turnaround story.)
Cain was a vassal of Giancana
and Giancana was in bed with the Kennedys who were on a mission to
rid Cuba of Fidel Castro. Under orders from the Chicago mob boss,
Cain opened an office at Rush and Oak, where he recruited Cuban insurgents
and soldiers of fortune to go down to South Florida to train as guerilla
warriors - a black bag assignment, perfect for one such as Cain.
The Bay of Pigs invasion
ended in disaster. It was a black eye fiasco for the president. The
rebels that Cain hired and trained in Florida were driven into the
sea. But Dick Cain returned to Chicago where he accepted an appointment
as Dick Ogilvie’s chief investigator after Ogilvie was elected
Cook County Sheriff in 1962. Why Richard Ogilvie, a man of integrity
and high ideals, vested so much confidence in Dick Cain who was criminally
indicted in 1964 for a complicity in the Louis Zahn warehouse heist
and a figure who consorted with a host of shady wise guys until he
was assassinated in 1973, remains one of the great enigmas of the
age.
It is personally troubling
to Paul Newey even to this day, but he continues his efforts to flesh
out the real truth behind the man and the myth that is Richard Cain
- including persistent rumors that this Chicago mob-cop may have participated
in the planning of the Kennedy assassination.
(5)
Larry
Hancock,
JFK
Lancer Forum (26th May, 2004)
It's clear from the documents
that Cain had been in contact with exile groups in Chicago throughout
the early 60's and was very Anti-Castro and anti-Communist. He had
also been in Miami and was reportedly on his way into Cuba at the
time - his brother (Michael Cain) gave us a great amount of detail
on information on what appears to have been Cain's operational involvement
in one of the first Roselli organized attempts on Castro. Cain went
on to try and set up a security business in Mexico City and made a
lot of contacts there before being invited to leave by the Mexican
government - during that period he offered various pieces of information
to the CIA there and wanted to work for them. A review of the CIA
documents on him shows that they were not particularly interested
in his information which was either reduncant or in some cases wrong
and after meeting with him just gave him a cold shoulder.
Cain maintained his Cuban
exile contacts in Chicago and remained an FBI informant through 64
at least, informing on DRE, on Sierra's group and on Roselli for that
matter. His post-assassination reports on the exiles got him into
the JFK collection and in one Misc subject FBI memo his reports on
the Cubans is contained in the same larger memo as some investigation
at Kleins on the rifle. Reading the header only leads you to belive
that Cain was a source on the Oswald rifle but you see that's not
true when you read the whole memo. Lots of times the FBI would do
a lengthy summary report on many topics and the subject lines can
be very misleading (I've been disappointed on a lot documents because
of that).
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