John
Cofer studied law and eventually acted as criminal attorney for Clark,
Thomas and Winters, a law firm headed by Edward
A. Clark.
Cofer represented Lyndon
B. Johnson
when he was accused of ballot-rigging
when
elected to the Senate in 1948.
On
22nd October, 1951, Mac
Wallace murdered
John Kinser. According to Barr
McClellan, the killing had been organized by Edward
Clark
in
an effort to prevent Kinser talking about a scandal that involved
Lyndon Johnson's sister, Josefa. Cofer was appointed as Wallace's
attorney. At his trial in February, 1952, Wallace was found guilty
of murder. Eleven of the jurors were for the death penalty. The twelfth
argued for life imprisonment. The judge overruled the jury and announced
a sentence of five years imprisonment. He suspended the sentence and
Wallace was freed.
Cofer
also represented Billy
Sol Estes
when he was rumoured to be involved in a financial scandal that was
linked to Lyndon
B. Johnson.
Estes ran a vast scam getting federal agricultural subsidies. According
to Estes he obtained $21 million a year for "growing" and
"storing" non-existent crops of cotton. On 3rd June, 1961,
Henry Marshall, a Department of Agriculture official investigating
Estes was found dead near Bryan, Texas. According to Barr
McClellan, Marshall had been murdered by Mac
Wallace.
However, officially
it was decided that Marshall had committed suicide.
On
4th April, 1962, George Krutilek, Estes's chief accountant, was found
dead. Despite a severe bruise on Krutilek's head, the coroner decided
that he had committed suicide. The next day, Estes, and three business
associates, were indicted by a federal grand jury on 57 counts of
fraud. Two of these men, Harold Orr and Coleman Wade, died before
the case came to court. At the time it was said they committed suicide
but later Estes was to claim that both men were murdered by Mac
Wallace in
order to protect the political career of Lyndon
B. Johnson.
On
24th June, 1962, Senator John McClellan
of Arkansas announced that his Permanent Investigations Committee
would be looking into the activities of Estes. On 27th July one witness
testified that Lyndon
B. Johnson was
getting a rake-off from the federal agricultural subsidies that Estes
had been obtaining.
The
trial of Billy
Sol Estes
began in October 1962. Cofer refused to put Estes
on
the witness stand. Estes was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to
eight years in prison. Federal proceedings against Estes began in
March 1963. He was eventually convicted of fraud regarding mortgages
of more that $24 million. Estes was found guilty and sentenced to
fifteen years for fraud and conspiracy.
Open
Debate on the Kennedy Assassination
(1)
Barr
McClellan, Blood Money
and Power: How L.B.J. Killed J.F.K. (2003)
In the excitement of the big trial, Estes tried to get rid of Cofer
as his attorney. Cofer refused to be fired, saying he had already
been paid. The next unpublicized issue between lawyer and client
was whether Estes should testify or not. Estes was ready to talk,
believing he could still charm anyone. Cofer was just as determined
to keep Estes quiet, for the sole purpose of protecting Johnson.
Estes might say too much and make things worse. On the other hand,
Estes might convince the jury and get off. Like it was with Wallace
in the Kinser case, there was no alternative, Estes had to be found
guilty. Then anything he said later could be discredited. Estes
grudgingly agreed. Cofer stayed with Estes.
(2)
Glen
Sample and Mark Collum, The Men On The Sixth Floor (1995)
A Texas Ranger, Clint Peoples, had befriended Estes and convinced
him that he should come clean with the whole truth. True to his
word, Estes agreed to appear before a Robertson County grand jury
and clear the record concerning the cotton allotments, the death
of Henry Marshall and the involvement of LBJ and others. He recounted
the whole ugly picture - from the millions he had funnelled into
Johnson's secret slush fund, to the illegal cotton allotment scheme,
to the murder of Henry Marshall.
Estes testified
that Lyndon Johnson, Cliff Carter (an aide of LBJ), Malcolm Wallace
and himself met several times to discuss the issue of the "loose
cannon" - Henry Marshall. Marshall had refused a LBJ-arranged
promotion to Washington headquarters, and it was feared that he
was about to talk. Johnson, according to Estes, finally said, "Get
rid of him," and Malcolm "Mac" Wallace was given
the assignment. According to testimony, Wallace followed Marshall
to a remote area of his farm and beat him nearly unconscious. Then
while trying to asphyxiate him with exhaust from Marshall's pickup
truck, Wallace thought he heard someone approaching the scene, and
hastily grabbed a rifle which customarily rested in the window rack
of the truck. Quickly
pumping five shots into Marshall's body, Wallace fled the scene.
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