Dorothy Kilgallen and the Kennedy Assassination Dorothy Kilgallen was probably one of the most famous reporters of the 1950s and 1960s. She had an edge to her which came out when she refused to drop stories. She was a true news hound. Many old timers remember her not for her stories, but for her appearances on the television quiz program “What’s My Line.” This show was very popular and the cash payouts at the time seem ridiculously low today, that just goes to show you how much value the dollar has lost since then, but back to Kilgallen. She was extremely brave when it came to writing a story and refused to be bullied by anyone. A book was written about her which was titled “The Reporter Who Knew Too Much.” In this case the title was probably right on the money. Many different scenarios exist about who actually killed President Kennedy. Some say the CIA killed him, because he was about to announce cooperation with the Soviet Union in the space program. Another scenario states he had to be killed, because he was telling too much to women he was having sex with such as Marilyn Monroe who was also believed to have been eliminated. Then there is the theory Vice President Johnson had him killed or at least sanctioned the assassination. Lastly some had believed a gangster named Carlos Marcello who was from New Orleans had killed Kennedy. The ones who believe that last conspiracy think he also killed Kilgallen. The reason they believe it was the fact Kilgallen was doggedly digging into the Kennedy assassination and the gangster feared she would turn up facts which would prove he planned it. Apparently Kilgallen had told her lawyer she had the biggest story of the century, all this while looking into the Kennedy murder. This seemed to cement the fact the story would have something to do with that. Kilgallen had newsprint in her blood. She was the daughter of another famous reporter James Kilgallen. His column the Voice of Broadway appeared in the New York Journal-American and was widely read as it was syndicated and appeared in 200 newspapers across the land. When she got a hold of something she thought would make a good story she was a Pitbull and nothing seemed to scare her off of it. Taking on a Mafia Don was only a challenge to her and she never thought about her own safety. She knew Kennedy and even brought her son with her to visit the president in the White House. She criticized the Warren Commission’s report on the President’s death as did quite a few people at the time. Many thought it looked like a cover-up. There seemed to have been too many people who met their deaths at the time who were somehow connected to President Kennedy or the investigation into his death. Kennedy had been murdered, Marilyn Monroe who slept with Kennedy was said to have committed suicide and the list might blow your mind because it has 103 people on it who died. I am not going to cite all the names, but I will give you a taste. Karyn Kupicinet was the daughter of a tv host who was said to overhear the plot in 1963, she was murdered. Hank Killam was married to an employee of Jack Ruby who said he had knowledge that Ruby was going to shoot Oswald, he had his throat cut. Gary Underhill was a CIA agent who said the agency was involved in the Kennedy murder, he supposedly committed suicide. Rose Cheramie said she knew of the plot in advance, she was killed by a hit and run driver. Kilgallen was scheduled to go to New Orleans in a week to meet with an informant, was this the final straw and the reason for a powerful person to have her killed? She had a huge amount of barbiturates in her blood yet the police said they found nothing suspicious about her death. Her autopsy was moved from the borough where she died which was Manhattan to Brooklyn which is very unusual. It has been said this was never explained. A hairdresser of Kilgallen said he was told by her “If the wrong people knew what I know about the JFK assassination, it would cost me my life.” The files she had accumulated on the Kennedy Assassination were all missing when she was found. Had the death of President Kennedy been only one death of many? Did others who knew too much also get killed and was this conspiracy so huge it was responsible for over 100 people dying to keep the secret? We can’t really tell, but we can look at the list of names of the people who died who may have had a connection to the case. The following is the address of the list. |
