PART TWO: JIM BRADEN

One of the most incredible bodies of recent information concerning the alleged conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy is largely based on the investigative research done by Peter Noyes, a former CBS Producer and top investigative reporter.

Last year Noyes published a book, Legacy of Doubt, which summed up many of his findings, and which generally outlines what Noyes believes was heavy Mafia involvement in the assassination. The Noyes book is almost entirely factual and is largely based on substantiated information such as police records provided by the FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department, the California Attorney General's Office, and Texas police officials.

Though the Noyes book (like most recent assassination books) did not sell well or receive much press attention, it has been regarded as a valuable contribution by most of author Noyes' fellow Warren Commission critics.

It can definitely be said that almost all of Noyes' findings, particularly with respect to his main character Jim Braden, have been factually substantiated and are solidly established by official police records.

Basically the Noyes book outlines the background of a mysterious man who was picked up by the police at the scene of President Kennedy's assassination just minutes after the shooting. The man was apprehended by a Dallas policeman who thought he was behaving suspiciously. The man, who identified himself under the false name of Jim Braden, was released shortly thereafter following brief questioning by the Dallas Sheriff's Office.

Author Noyes uncovered the story of Jim Braden and his true identity during five years of investigative research.

And it is Jim Braden's true identity and his ironic misfortune of being picked up at the scene of the assassination for "looking suspicious" that the Warren Commission critics now believe ranks with James McCord's mistake of leaving masking tape on the doors during the Watergate break-in as the ultimate fatal slip-ups in the two conspiracies.