Date: 10 Nov 1997 00:01:49 -0500
From: "J. Orlin Grabbe" 
To: snetnews@world.std.com
Subject: SNET: [Fwd: 101 Foster Anomalies (1/2)]


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From: rayheizer@value.net (Ray Heizer)
Newsgroups: alt.current-events.clinton.whitewater
Subject: 101 Foster Anomalies (1/2)
Date: Sun, 09 Nov 1997 17:52:15 -0800
Organization: Value Net Internetwork Services Inc.
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Reformatted slightly and forwarded from cas member: "Richard L. Franklin"


- - -

        101 Peculiarities Surrounding the Death of Vince Foster
                                 by
                         Richard L. Franklin


        Please bear in mind that the purpose of this catalog is rather
modest. I merely want to highlight what I see as a large number of
gross "peculiarities" surrounding the Foster case. I hope to convey
to the reader some sense of the sheer weight of over 100
discrepancies and unanswered questions. Also bear in mind that the
number "101" is itself a modest number. As a practical matter, I was
forced to omit dozens of striking anomalies.

        As you read this long list, consider that Vince Foster's death was
almost immediately labeled a suicide by the U.S. Park Police. Normal
procedure in the case of a violent death is to treat it as a homicide
until all doubts are resolved. Despite this, a homicide investigation
was never launched. Even before the death scene or the body had been
inspected, a suicide confirmation process was under way. In her sworn
Senate testimony, senior Park Police officer Cheryl Braun said, "We
made that determination [of suicide] prior to going up and looking at
the body." From that point on, all police and FBI efforts were
directed toward collecting evidence that would support the suicide
verdict. No effort has ever been made to seek or collect evidence
supporting a possible homicide.

        Instead of seeing a proper homicide investigation, we have seen
Foster's death become mired in a morass of lies, confusion, and
conflicting evidence. Faced with this labyrinth, I knew that any hope
of putting together a challenge-proof list of over 100 items was
unrealistic. Is it possible there are errors in this catalog?
Certainly. Nonetheless, I am confident 90% of these assertions will
hold up with time. For any rational person, the weight of 90-plus
discrepancies must still remain staggering.


1. The man who discovered the body in Ft. Marcy Park says he was
curious about the cause of death and looked closely for a gun. He
emphatically says there was no gun in either hand. The FBI put great
pressure on this witness to change his testimony. Why? Did he
interrupt the staging of a suicide that was only completed after he
left the scene?

2. The powder-burn patterns found on both Foster's hands apparently
came from powder discharged from the front of a gun cylinder. If he
had been gripping the handle, his hands would have had stain patterns
consistent with powder discharged from the rear of the cylinder.

3. The gun was still in Foster's hand. It is unusual for a .38
caliber weapon to remain in a person's hand after discharge.
Propelled by its powerful recoil, a .38 normally is thrown a
considerable distance, sometimes as much as 15 feet. It is true a
spasmodic reflex sometimes freezes the fingers around the gun;
however, when the gun was removed from Foster's hand, his fingers
were still flexible, indicating such a reflex never took place.

4. There was no blood or tissue on the gun. Normally, the force of
such a powerful explosion within the mouth blows back a large amount
of blood and tissue.

5. No fingerprints were found on the exterior of the gun. The FBI
claims this was due to a lack of sweat on Foster's hands. Consider
that the temperature that afternoon passed 95 degrees, and the
temperature-humidity index reached 103 (this estimates the effect of
temperature and moisture on humans, with 65 considered the highest
comfortable level). Furthermore, a man about to fire a gun in his
mouth is likely to be sweating excessively. If the FBI explanation is
scientifically true, one has to conclude it is exceedingly rare to
find prints on any weapon.

6. The FBI lab found two fingerprints underneath the removable hand
grips. These prints did not belong to Foster. No effort was made to
identify these prints through the FBI's computerized data bank. (The
FBI did try to find samples of prints belonging to Foster's father.)

7. The gun was made up of parts from at least two guns. Consider that
professional killers often use guns made from several guns to make
them untraceable. These are known as "drop guns."

8. There is no evidence this gun belonged to Foster. Nor is there any
evidence this gun fired the fatal shot.

9. When Lisa Foster went to look for her husband's silver gun in its
normal place, she found a strange gun. No member of the Foster family
recognized this gun. Did somebody make a swap? If so, who made the
exchange? And for what purpose?

10. The gun in Foster's hand, as shown in an ABC color photo, is
clearly black. Members of Foster's family all agree Foster's gun was
silver. The FBI showed Foster's widow a silver gun and told her it
was the gun found at the scene. Why did the FBI make this
substitution? 

11. It remains clouded as to what happened to Foster's silver gun. We
know it could not have been the black gun found in Foster's hand. Was
it the silver gun the FBI showed to Lisa Foster? Does the FBI have
any proof this gun belonged to Foster? Is it possible the black gun
in the ABC photo was merely a "place-holder" gun planted in Foster's
hand until Foster's own gun could be retrieved?

12. No matching bullets for the crime-scene gun were found on Foster
or at his home. The only bullets found in his home were .22 caliber.
This suggests Foster's silver gun was a .22, not a .38. FBI reports
do not identify the caliber of the silver handgun in their
possession. Why not?

13. The gun contained two cartridges, one spent and one unspent. They
were stamped with a code indicating they were high velocity (extra
powerful) rounds. This is inconsistent with the fact there was no
pool of blood or large exit wound.

14. The rush to deliver a suicide verdict repeatedly corrupted normal
police procedures. The gun was an 80-year-old Army Colt Special.
Despite the age of the gun, the Park Police did not test it to see if
it would actually fire. Six days after the investigation was closed,
they asked the BATF to test the gun. The test results were announced
five days later, or a total of 11 days after the case had already
been closed.

15. Medical technician Richard Arthur was one of the first to reach
the death scene. Arthur emphatically says he saw an automatic pistol
in Foster's hand. His description of the weapon is very precise and
correctly matches the profile of an automatic. He adamantly swears it
had a barrel with straight lines as opposed to a tubular shape and a
hand grip that was "square in shape." If his testimony is correct, it
suggests an automatic was replaced with a revolver sometime after the
police arrived.

16. Gun powder residue on Foster's glasses and clothing did not come
from the gun found in his hand.

17. Foster's glasses were found 19 feet from his head at the bottom
of the embankment his body was found on. The Park Police have
theorized that his glasses "jumped" to the bottom of the slope when
the gun went off. High underbrush covered most of the slope. The
police explanation suggests his glasses were propelled through 19
feet of this dense growth. Consider that his head would have been
slammed backward against the embankment as his glasses flew toward
the ditch. What force could have thrust his glasses 19 feet in the
opposite direction? No tests were conducted to test this implausible
theory. An earlier theory was that he threw his glasses into the
ravine prior to killing himself. The presence of gun powder on his
glasses refuted this odd explanation.

18. Five homes are located an average of 490 feet from the crime
scene, yet nobody in the neighborhood heard a shot. The residence of
the Saudi Arabia ambassador is 700 feet from the crime scene. Guards
at the residence heard no shot. Presumably the sound of a shot would
greatly alarm trained bodyguards. This anomaly is neatly accounted
for if (1) a silencer was used, or (2) Foster was shot at another
location.

19. The Saudi bodyguards and the neighbors living near the crime
scene were not interviewed until months later. This was a gross
disregard of police procedure. Evidence trails grow cold quickly,
memories fade, people move, and witnesses become recalcitrant.

20. Authorities claim the bullet exited the rear of Foster's skull.
This bullet has never been found. Why not? A bullet smashing through
a skull loses most of its force and rarely travels far. Is it because
the bullet never exited the rear of Foster's skull? Bear in mind
there is substantial eyewitness testimony indicating no such exit
wound existed.

21. Several people who were at the crime scene say there was little
or no blood under Foster's head. A .38 caliber weapon firing a
high-velocity slug normally makes a large exit hole and produces a
huge pool of blood. Following a fatal shot to the brain, the heart
keeps pumping until it runs out of blood. This action can last as
long as two minutes, thusly expelling a massive quantity of blood.
The lack of blood raises two questions: (1) Did Foster die elsewhere?
(2) Was the shot to the head administered after he was dead? A
careful consideration of these possibilities was precluded by the
frantic rush to support an official suicide verdict.

22. X-rays of Foster's skull have either vanished or never were
taken. Dr. James Beyer, who did the autopsy, has made contradictory
statements as to whether he took X-rays. This controversy remains
unresolved.

23. Foster's head was moved after his death and before crime-scene
photos were taken. Was this done intentionally? Or was it merely the
product of an inept crime-scene investigation? The FBI report
indicates the head was moved while the blood was still wet. This
claim is intriguing because it suggests the head was moved before
investigators arrived.

24. In his written report, paramedic Corey Ashford listed the death
as a homicide. Did he do this because he thought it was obviously a
homicide? Or was he only following proper police procedure by
initially treating a violent death as a homicide?

25. Only a few trickles of dried blood were found on Foster's face.
One of these trickles had run uphill in defiance of gravity. This
fact alone should have alerted the Park Police to the possibility
Foster's body had been moved from another location or the body had
been tampered with after death.

26. The Army Colt .38 Special has a high sight and a bulky
ejector-rod head. These items normally do significant damage to the
teeth and mouth when the gun barrel is explosively expelled from the
mouth. Foster's teeth were not chipped, nor was his mouth damaged.
The good condition of his mouth has never been explained by the FBI
or Park Police. Is it possible a silencer was used? Consider that a
silencer is a smooth, round extension that has no sight or ejector
rod.

27. No blow-back of blood or tissue was found on the gun, on Foster's
hand, or on his sleeve. Most homicide experts believe this is
physically impossible given the power of the Colt .38. How does one
account for this discrepancy? A much-discussed theory is that Foster
was killed with a .22 caliber pistol. Consider that this small weapon
is a favorite of professional killers. There are four good reasons
for this: (1) it makes far less noise than a larger weapon; (2)
rather than blasting through a person's head, its less powerful
bullet tends to ricochet within the skull, doing lethal brain damage;
(3) it does this deadly work without generating a blowout of the
brain case, a pool of blood, or splattered brain parts; (4) there is
almost no blow-back of atomized blood droplets to mark the assassin's
clothing with DNA.

28. No skull fragments were found at the scene, even though a .38
fired into the mouth normally inflicts severe damage as the slug
blows out the back of the brain case. Park Police officer John Rolla
observed, "There was no blowout. There weren't brains running all
over the place. . . I initially thought the bullet might still be in
his head." This is consistent with the theory a .22 was used to kill
Foster. Why have Rolla's observations been ignored?

29. All the paramedics who handled Foster's body said they did not
see an exit wound in Foster's head. Corey Ashford helped lift
Foster's body into a body bag. While doing so, he cradled Foster's
head against his stomach. Ashford's white shirt remained immaculate
following this contact. Nor did he have to wash his hands. He says
this is highly unusual in gunshot deaths, which are normally
extremely messy.

30. Dr. Julian Orenstein, the doctor who certified Foster's death at
the morgue, says he did not see any exit wound in Foster's head. The
fact is all the people who initially handled the body say they did
not see an exit wound. Consider that none of these people had a
vested interest in the operative suicide conclusion. 

31. Dr. Donald Haut, the medical examiner who visited the death site,
has steadfastly supported the suicide conclusion. He told the FBI he
saw an exit wound. He also stated it "was consistent with a low
velocity weapon" (jargon for a small gun such as a .22). In other
words, it was a small wound with little blood. Later he repeated his
comments about a lack of blood to reporter Chris Ruddy. Haut later
denied this in an interview with CBS reporter Mike Wallace. Why did
Haut change what he had previously said on two separate occasions?
Even more puzzling, why would he deny this when he knew Ruddy had
tape recorded his comments?

32. A medical technician at the death scene says he saw a small,
circular wound on Foster's neck, just below the jaw line. He says it
"looked like a small-caliber entrance wound." (For reasons stated
below, one has to consider the possibility this was an exit wound.)

33. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, a respected British reporter, claims he
has seen a photo of this wound. He says the wound was on "the
right-hand side, about halfway along the jaw and about an inch below
the jaw." He describes it as "a clearly visible wound about the size
of a dime... It has the appearance of a small-calibre gunshot wound."
He later said in a radio interview that the "wound on the neck is the
origin and source of the blood that comes down the neck and trickles
down the collar."

34. According to Hugh Sprunt, a highly respected Foster researcher,
"White House sources... did indicate to the media very shortly after
the death that two different guns were involved in the shooting=8Bone
a .22 and one a .38." Park Police notes of 7/26/93 also mention this,
adding that the information came from the FBI.

35. Dr. John Haut signed a document dated July 20, 1993, entitled
"Report of Investigation of Medical Examiner." In the words of Hugh
Sprunt, "Page two says 'Self-inflicted gunshot wound mouth-neck' and
there appears to be an alteration on page one from 'Perforating
gunshot wound mouth-neck' to 'Perforating gunshot wound mouth-head.'"
It is probably more precise to say whiteout was used on page one to
cover what appears to be a four-letter word, possibly "neck." The
word "head" was typed next to this. Looking at this document, one
notes that "head" is slightly higher than the rest of the typing. In
other words, the document was removed from the typewriter and later
re-inserted to alter it. Why? Consider that a .22 caliber slug fired
into the mouth often ricochets and exits through soft locations such
as the neck. "Mouth-neck" on a report indicates the gun was
discharged in the mouth and the slug exited through the neck.

36. According to the FBI, no "coherent soil" from the park was found
on Foster's shoes. Investigators for the independent Scalise Report
had two men walk the trail to the death site wearing shoes similar to 
Foster's. In both cases, their shoes picked up microscopic dirt from
the trail. CBS reporter Mike Wallace did the same experiment and also
picked up dirt. In CBS' televised report on Foster's death=8Ba report
that strongly endorsed the suicide conclusion=8BWallace neglected to
mention this private test. Why did he and CBS conceal this important
fact?

37. A tow truck driver says he was sent to the Ft. Marcy Park to
remove a car on the evening of Foster's death. He says the driver's
window was broken, and there was blood on the dash and seats. No
in-depth investigation of this odd story has ever been done by the
FBI or Park Police. Did the premature suicide conclusion block
another obvious path of investigation?

38. Also consider that hairs and multi-colored carpet fibers were
found on Foster's clothing, including his underwear; yet the seat of
Foster's car was never checked for matching hairs or fibers.

39. More significantly, the floor of Foster's car trunk was not
checked for carpet fibers matching those on his clothing. Is it
possible his body was transported in the trunk of his car? Is it
possible Foster's body was wrapped in carpet before being transported
to Ft. Marcy Park? Once again, the premature suicide verdict seems to
have prevented such obvious hypotheses from being explored.

40. The White House discounted the abundance of carpet fibers on
Foster's clothing, claiming they came from his recently re-carpeted
home. This was never substantiated by taking samples of carpet fibers
from the Foster home for comparison.

41. If a person dies in a supine position, blood settles to the back
of the body where it creates lividity marks. If the body is moved,
gravity may pull blood to other parts of the body where it will
imprint new marks. It was imperative for the police to strip Foster's
body and check its entire surface for lividity marks before taking it
to the morgue. This was never done. As usual, the premature suicide
verdict eliminated a vital police procedure. And once again, vital
forensic evidence was lost or destroyed.

42. The driver's seat of Foster's Honda was pushed forward to a
position appropriate for a person about 5' 8" tall. Foster was nearly
6' 5" tall. It would have been extraordinarily difficult for Foster
to have driven his car with the seat in this position. Despite this,
authorities have persisted in saying Foster drove his car to Ft.
Marcy Park. The possibility somebody else drove Foster's car has been
steadfastly rejected.

43. On the afternoon of Foster's death, at least four eyewitnesses
saw an older-model brown car in the exact spot where Foster's car
would later be found. Foster's car was a light-gray recent model. It
materialized in place of the brown car sometime after 6 p.m. In other
words, Foster's car apparently arrived after his body was found. The
tardy arrival of Foster's car was further confirmed by a detective
who felt the hood of the car. It was still warm.

44. At least four witnesses saw a briefcase lying on the front seat
of Foster's Honda after the police had arrived. Medical technician
George Gonzalez described it as "a black briefcase-attach=E9 case."
This briefcase has vanished. The contents of the briefcase might have
shed light on what Foster was doing just prior to his death. Many
items of evidence were immediately turned over to the White House.
Was Foster's briefcase among these items?

45. Foster's pager was found at the scene. Somebody had apparently
erased its memory. The Park Police turned it over to the White House
within hours of finding it. It is blatantly illegal to give away key
evidence=8Bespecially to associates of the victim. Coworkers of
murder victims are pro forma suspects in homicide investigations. Any
officer turning over physical evidence to potential suspects would
normally face serious charges. Instead, praise and promotions were
heaped on the Park Police by a grateful White House. Cheryl Braun,
for example, was promoted to sergeant.

46. All the crime-scene photos taken with a 35 millimeter camera were
"overexposed" or have vanished. Furthermore, most of the Polaroid
photos of the crime scene have vanished or are blurred. This includes
shots of Foster's back taken by officer John Rolla. Rolla's photos
presumably would have confirmed (or refuted) the lack of a blood pool
and a large exit wound=8Banomalies mentioned by several witnesses.

47. Miquel Rodriguez, an early member of the independent counsel's
office, was suspicious of the "original" Polaroid of Foster's neck.
His FBI staff repeatedly told him it was the original, and that was
all they had. With the help of an accomplice, Rodriguez uncovered a
hidden file of photos containing the actual original. He took the
original and the blurred copy to outside photographic experts who
determined that somebody had taken a photo of the original and then
altered it to hide what appeared to be a small-caliber neck wound.

48. Mark Tuohey was head of the Office of Independent Counsel in
Washington. He took Rodriguez aside and warned him he was not to
challenge the findings of the Fiske Report. In other words, Rodriguez
was given explicit orders not to challenge the suicide verdict.

49. Rodriguez told Kenneth Starr he wanted to summon FBI agents
before the grand jury to compel sworn testimony concerning their
handling of evidence. He also wanted to bring in private experts to
evaluate evidence. Starr refused both requests and told him to wrap
up the investigation as quickly as possible. When Rodriguez balked,
Starr forced him to hand in his resignation.

50. Shortly thereafter, Starr dismissed the grand jury that had been
getting information from Rodriguez and formed a new one. The new jury
was not made privy to the thousands of pages of facts that Rodriguez
had presented to the previous jury.

51. A video surveillance camera records all comings and goings from
the White House parking lot. It has been persistently reported that
the tapes that would have recorded Vince Foster leaving the White
House on the day of his death have vanished from the vault they are
normally stored in. A surveillance camera records whoever enters and
leaves this vault. The tapes that would have recorded who took the
parking lot tapes from the vault have also reportedly vanished. The
White House and the FBI have never denied this. If this story is
false, it could be laid to rest by simply producing the surveillance
tapes in question. Why have the FBI and the White House failed to do
so?

52. James Beyer, the deputy medical examiner, did the autopsy. At the
time, Beyer was under considerable public suspicion for having
previously labeled two obvious homicides as suicides. Since Foster's
body was found in Ft. Marcy Park, the autopsy fell under Dr. Beyer's
jurisdiction. Those who wanted a quick suicide verdict could not have
hoped for a more compliant medical examiner than Dr. Beyer. If
finding the body in Ft Marcy Park was a coincidence, it surely was a
convenient coincidence.

53. The X-rays are missing. Dr. Beyer told a Park Police investigator
X-rays had not revealed any bullet fragments in Foster's head. He
later claimed he never took X-rays. Which statement is true? More to
the point, which is false?

54. Contrary to reports in the media, nothing that could plausibly
pass for a suicide note was found. The note found by Bernie
Nussbaum's aide looks more like a list of reasons for returning to
Arkansas, something Foster had been seriously contemplating. In fact,
his wife says she had encouraged him to write such a list.

55. This alleged "suicide" note had been torn into 28 pieces. All but
one of the pieces were found in one of Foster's briefcases. This
happened after the briefcase already had been searched twice by
Bernie Nussbaum in the presence of Park Police. The missing piece was
from the lower right-hand corner, the precise spot where Foster's
signature would presumably have appeared. Consider these facts: (1) a
person's signature is the most difficult item to forge; (2) forged
suicide notes are often torn up in an effort to make it more
difficult to verify the handwriting; (3) homicide experts believe a
late-appearing suicide note must always be viewed with suspicion.

                                                continued on 2/2 ...


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From: rayheizer@value.net (Ray Heizer)
Newsgroups: alt.current-events.clinton.whitewater
Subject: 101 Foster Anomalies (2/2)
Date: Sun, 09 Nov 1997 17:52:58 -0800
Organization: Value Net Internetwork Services Inc.
Message-ID: 
NNTP-Posting-Host: j65.value.net

 
Reformatted slightly and forwarded from cas member: "Richard L. Franklin"


- - -

... continued from 1/2:

56. No fingerprints were found on the note despite the fact Foster
allegedly had torn it into 28 pieces. Only Bernie Nussbaum's palm
print was found. Why would Foster wear gloves to tear up this list?
And why would he tear it up in the first place? And what was Bernie
Nussbaum doing handling critical evidence? Why did it take a week for
the note to surface? How could Nussbaum have missed seeing the 27
pieces after having searched the briefcase twice?

57. Three handwriting experts independently concluded the note is a
forgery. One of the experts, Reginald Alton of Oxford University, is
arguably the most eminent handwriting expert in the world. He judged
the forgery to be the clumsy work of an amateur.

58. When these experts held a press conference to announce their
findings, the forum was almost completely boycotted by the mainstream
media. These findings were a stunning development with dramatic
implications. Why was this story almost totally ignored by the
American media?

59. The handwriting "expert" for the Park Police had previously
declared the note authentic. This "expert" has had no training in
handwriting analysis and only does it as a hobby. Furthermore, he
used only one sample of Foster's handwriting=8Ba clearly inadequate
exemplar to work from. Trained experts prefer 20 to 30 exemplars,
with 10 being a bare minimum.

60. When Foster's wallet was found on the seat of his car, it
contained a note with the names and phone numbers of three
psychiatrists. When they were contacted, they said they did not know
Foster and had never talked to him. Miquel Rodriguez and others in
the Office of the Independent Counsel noted that the numbers jotted
down on the note were visibly different from the way Foster wrote
numbers.

61. The Park Police Department was immediately assigned to the
investigation. Normally an investigation into the violent death of
one of the highest officers of the federal government is handled by
the FBI.

62. However, it now seems clear the entire time the Park Police
worked on the case, the FBI was secretly involved. Did the White
House direct this subterfuge? If so, for what purpose?

63. The White House fired William Sessions, the head of the FBI, the
day before Foster's body was found. He was fired on charges of
misusing minor perks. It was the first time in history a president
had fired a head of the FBI. Sessions would later declare his firing
had "seriously compromised" the Foster investigation. 

64. The Park Police lead investigator assigned to the case had never
handled a homicide case. Once again, the premature suicide conclusion
compromised the investigation by directing it away from a homicide
investigation. Was it the lead investigator's job to rubber stamp a
preordained suicide verdict?

65. The White House did not comply with police requests that Vince
Foster's office be immediately sealed following his death.

66. Later that night, police officers would passively sit outside
Foster's office, while White House aides freely went in and out.
Since Foster's office was technically part of a crime scene, this was
a gross violation of police procedures.

67. White House aides were seen ransacking Foster's office. A Secret
Service agent saw Maggie Williams moving Foster's files to her
office. No efforts were made by the Park Police to recover this
potential evidence. Why was this criminal interference with a police
investigation tolerated?

68. Foster's administrative assistant, Deborah Gorham, has testified
that Foster's file index, the document listing everything contained
in his files, has vanished. Several other documents and letters,
known by Gorham to have been in Foster's safe, have also vanished.

69. Ms. Gorham testified that Bernie Nussbaum demanded the
combination to Foster's safe after he learned of Foster's death.
Technically, Foster's safe was part of a crime scene. It is possible
it contained critical evidence.

70. It is not known whether Foster's appointment book was in his
briefcase or his office. In any case, it has vanished. It would be
considered important evidence in a homicide investigation. This is
especially true in the case of Foster, whose whereabouts for the five
hours preceding his death are unknown. Unaccountably, the
disappearance of the appointment book has been ignored. As usual, the
premature suicide conclusion insulated the investigation from a
striking anomaly.

71. At the crime scene, Park Police officer John Rolla searched
Foster's pockets for personal effects. Officers Cheryl Braun and
Christine Hodakievic watched while Rolla carefully searched Foster's
front and back pockets. Rolla found nothing. Foster's wallet and
credit cards were found in his Honda, but his car keys were missing.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the crime-scene investigation
is that the absence of the car keys never dampened the operative
suicide conclusion.

72. Later that evening, Braun and Rolla went to the morgue 
to search Foster's pockets a second time. Presumably they were
ordered to so. Upon arriving, Braun immediately found two key rings
in Foster's right front pocket. One ring had four keys. How did Rolla
miss them the first time? Two key rings with six keys inside a front
pocket should have presented a bulky outline. Even a simple police
"pat down" should have been enough to discover the keys. Who ordered
Braun and Rolla to the morgue to look for the keys a second time? Why
was this order given?

73. Foster was easily identified using the photos on his White House
pass and his driver's license. The White House was then notified.
White House aide Craig Livingstone was ordered to the morgue to
"identify" the body. He called special counsel William Kennedy and
asked him to meet him at the morgue. The reason for this rush to the
morgue remains murky. The body had already been positively identified
and two officers had already been dispatched to notify the Foster
family. Kennedy was waiting at the morgue when Craig Livingstone
arrived. Why couldn't Kennedy do the identification alone? What was
Livingstone expected to bring to the "identification"?

74. What transpired at the morgue is unclear. Livingstone and Kennedy
must have asked for access to the body. It seems probable the two men
did gain physical access=8Bpossibly an illegal act. Since civilian
access to the body during a police investigation would have been
improper, morgue supervisor Christina Tea must have balked. Did she
call the Park Police commanding officer for an okay?. What would the
commanding officer do in such a situation? Call the White House?
Normally, family and friends must view a body from behind a glass
window in a separate room. This regulation apparently was bypassed by
Livingstone and Kennedy. Why couldn't they have made the
"identification" in the usual manner?

75. The chronology of activities is noteworthy. Shortly after Kennedy
and Livingstone left the morgue, officers Rolla and Braun arrived and
found the missing car keys. Bear in mind that Foster's car keys were
essential to the suicide hypothesis. When the keys suddenly appeared,
the suicide verdict was rescued from a serious, if not fatal,
discrepancy. Some observers have referred to this as the "magic keys"
incident.

76. There are good reasons to doubt the White House claim it did not
learn of Foster's death until 8.30 p.m. At about 6.15 p.m., White
House aide Helen Dickey called the governor's mansion in Little Rock,
Arkansas, to tell the governor Foster had killed himself. The call
was received by trooper Roger Perry. He has said in a sworn affidavit
(which subjects him to perjury charges) that he received the call
about 6.15 p.m. Washington time. He states Ms. Dickey was crying. She
told him Foster had shot himself in the White House parking lot.
Perry says he promptly called several people to tell them the news.
Among them was trooper Larry Patterson and former state police
commander Lynn Davis. Both these men have signed affidavits attesting
to these calls. Time estimates vary, but all three men agree the
calls took place during rush-hour traffic in Little Rock. As a final
note, consider that Ken Starr has never interviewed Helen Dickey.

77. The London Telegraph filed a Freedom of Information request for 
copies of the White House phone logs for that evening. This request
was denied without explanation. The relevant phone logs at the
governor's mansion in Little Rock have vanished.

78. That evening, at 8.30 p.m., Bill Clinton was waiting to be
interviewed by Larry King. As Clinton was being prepared in the White
House by a makeup artist, he chatted with Mack McLarty. According to
the makeup artist, a male aide entered the room and told Clinton,
"They found a note in Foster's office." This seems to contradict
Clinton's claim he was not told about Foster's death until after his
9 p.m. interview with Larry King. Robert Fiske deposed the makeup
artist, but her sworn statement was not included in the Fiske
Report=8Bone of many peculiar gaps in his porous report.

79. Patrick Knowlton drove into the parking lot at Ft. Marcy Park on
July 20, 1993, the day of Foster's death. He was looking for a place
to relieve himself. As he was about to leave his car, he saw a
dark-skinned "Hispanic-looking" man who glared at him. Knowlton says
the man stared at him with such ferocity he felt intimidated and hid
his wallet under his seat. He says he had an odd feeling the man was
warning him to stay away. After Foster's death was announced,
Knowlton reported this to the Park Police. In the spring of 1994, an
FBI agent finally interviewed Knowlton=8Bnearly one year after
Foster's death. The agent later wrote a report quoting Knowlton as
saying he would be unable to identify the man he had seen. Knowlton
says this report was false. On the contrary, he had told the agent he
remembered the man's face extremely well and was confident he could
identify him. Why did the FBI lie about Knowlton's statement? Why
wasn't Knowlton invited to look at police photos?

80. Knowlton would later describe the man to a sketch artist for the
London Telegraph. This sketch was published in England, but the FBI
unaccountably ignored this key evidence. Instead, the FBI launched a
campaign of harassment and intimidation of Knowlton. Teams of agents
harassed him 24 hours a day. He was followed constantly. Agents on
the street used threatening gestures. Cars filled with four agents
followed him. His phone rang in the middle of the night. Agents
knocked on his door at 3 a.m. A journalist, a private investigator,
and many of Knowlton's friends have witnessed this harassment.
Knowlton is currently suing the FBI. Why has the FBI gone to such
great lengths to intimidate Knowlton?

81. The Fiske Report makes no mention of Patrick Knowlton. Kenneth
Starr refused to interview him until the artist's sketch appeared in
the London Telegraph. When Knowlton was brought before the grand
jury, Starr's prosecutor grilled him with great hostility, treating
him as though he were a liar and a charlatan.

(Note: The Fiske Report is riddled with lies and omissions. The
following ten items (82-91) are examples of this malfeasance.)

82. The Fiske Report says, "Experienced FBI Laboratory Technicians in
Washington performed extensive analyses of the physical evidence
identified during the investigation." Not true. The FBI never did any
analysis of the hair and fiber evidence.

83. The Fiske Report says, "In addition to conducting interviews,
this Office examined documentary and photographic evidence
including... documents removed from Foster's office at the White
House and turned over to either the Clinton's private attorney or the
Foster family attorney." This is ingenuous. For all we know, he may
have seen only a handful of innocuous documents. Furthermore, he
makes no reference to the documents that were placed in the private
living quarters of Hillary Clinton.

84. The Fiske Report says, "The only vehicular entrance [to Ft. Marcy
Park] is from the Parkway." Not true. Fiske unaccountably tries to
gloss over the existence of a back road. This road comes 300 feet
closer to the body site than the lot where Foster's Honda was parked.
If Foster's body had been transported to the park, the killers would
probably have used this back road because of its privacy and
proximity.

85. Besides ignoring this back road, Fiske pays little heed to the
condition of the ground leading to Foster's body. The relatively
steep slope (about 45 degrees) drops down to a ditch. As described by
a witness, the underbrush from the body down to the ditch and up the
other side of the ditch had been trampled down. Foster could not have
flattened this amount of underbrush without climbing up and down the
slope several times. In other words, the swath looked like it had
been created by several people climbing the slope. This trampled path
led toward the old road that Fiske has not acknowledged. Once again,
the operative suicide verdict precluded a reasonable theory: namely
that Foster's body had been brought in via the old road and carried
over this trampled path by several men.

86. Fiske interviewed a couple that had been in the parking lot. His
report states, "Neither individual heard a gunshot while in the Park
or observed anything unusual." This contradicts what the woman told
the Park Police. She told officers she had noticed two men hovering
around a Honda with its hood up. Was this Foster's car? How can this
be dismissed as not being "unusual"?

87. The Fiske Report only briefly refers to Foster's car keys,
saying, "The keys to the car were located in Foster's pants pocket."
This is clearly misleading.

88. The Fiske Report tried to make a case for Foster being deeply
depressed before his suicide. Fiske says, "Although no one noticed a
loss of appetite, it was obvious to many that he had lost weight."
There is no basis for this claim. Based on Foster's medical records,
Foster actually gained six pounds during the time frame in question.
Fiske saw these medical records. Why did he invent a weight loss?

89. In order to promote the suicide conclusion, Fiske and others have
argued Foster was deeply depressed. This runs contrary to statements
by all of Foster's friends and professional associates. None detected
any signs of depression, and they were all stunned by his suicide.
Fiske brazenly altered or twisted the statements of all those
witnesses who said they saw no signs of depression in Foster.

90. Many depositions are conspicuous by their absence. For example:
Fiske did not depose Maggie Williams, who was seen carrying boxes of
documents from Foster's office. He did not depose Helen Dickey, who
made a 6.15 p.m. call to Little Rock to report that Foster had been
found dead in the White House parking lot. Fiske did not depose Craig
Livingstone to determine why it was necessary for him to drive to the
morgue to join Kennedy for an alleged "identification." And so forth.

91. The Fiske Report gives the impression that thorough forensic work
was done in the original investigation. Some idea of how thorough
this work was comes through in Dr. Beyer's deposition. Consider the
following questions and Beyer's answers:

Q: I would assume that most autopsies would be pretty standard but
wonder if there is a way to determine if the autopsy on VF was SOP.
You used the expression concerning the gunpowder on both hands, that
it was interpreted "grossly" as gunpowder.
A: "Grossly" noted the appearance of gunpowder.
Q: But you didn't make any more specific identification than that?
A: No, sir.
Q: Doctor, is it your testimony that your office would not make a
determination as to=8Bor make an analysis as to=8Btime of death
absent a specific request from law enforcement personnel?
A: If they wanted assistance, we would furnish it to them. In this 
particular case, I have no record that it was asked.
Q: Did you have the fingernails scraped for debris?
A: They didn't ask for that examination to be done.

92. Beyer's testimony that the autopsy was "standard" is simply
false. When autopsies are done at the request of the police, it is
standard procedure for the police department to have investigators
present to serve as witnesses and to answer any questions the medical
examiner may have. Under White House pressure, Beyer circumvented
this by suddenly moving the autopsy up 24 hours. This enabled him to
work on the body for an undetermined amount of time with no witnesses
present. By the time police investigators arrived, Beyer had removed
Foster's soft palate and tongue and had driven a metal rod through
Foster's skull to "illustrate" the official "exit wound." A
mysterious "assistant" had been working with Beyer. Beyer refused to
identify this assistant to the police. As a final thought, consider
that all those who originally handled the body never saw an exit
wound in the back of Foster's skull.

93. Sundry contradictions are found in the medical reports. Dr. Anh
Hyunh, who did the blood toxicology, stated in the official report
that no Trazodone (an antidepressant) or Valium-derivatives were
found in Foster's blood. Subsequently, the FBI did a report for the
Senate Whitewater Committee in which it was stated that Trazodone and
Valium-derivatives had been found in Foster's blood. This would help
confirm Fiske's claims that Foster was depressed, but it directly
contradicts the report of Dr. Hyunh, the official toxicologist. Did
the FBI falsify evidence to support the depression thesis? We now
know from testimony by Dr. Frederic Whitehurst, formerly of the FBI
labs, that the labs have a history of tampering with evidence.

94. The FBI reports that have been made available have been
drastically censored. Large sections are entirely blacked out. In
many cases, one asks why. For example, when Foster's body was rolled,
Officer John Rolla made an observation that was noted in the original
report. His remark has been blacked out. Why did the FBI feel it was
necessary to delete this? Better yet, why censor any forensic details
from a report on a simple suicide?

95. According to Foster's secretary, approximately six hours before
his death, Foster mailed a letter to his mother. He has often been
described as a "southern gentleman" with extremely genteel manners.
He was especially courtly toward women. He seemingly had a healthy
relationship with his mother. Despite this, his letter to his mother,
sent only hours before he allegedly killed himself, does not contain
a single expression of feeling. There is no hint whatsoever this
would be his last communication with his mother.

96. There is much in Foster's behavior during the days preceding his
death that indicates he had no intention of killing himself. Only
days before his death, he called James Lyons, a friend and trusted
advisor in Denver. He told Lyons he needed him in Washington. They
made plans for Lyons to fly to Washington on Wednesday, July 21 (the
day after Foster allegedly killed himself). Foster called Lyons again
on Sunday to confirm their Wednesday appointment. It seems clear
Foster was planning on meeting Lyons. It also seems highly unlikely
he intended to kill himself the day before the arrival of his friend.

97. All indications are that Foster deeply cared for his sister
Sharon Bowman. Sharon still lived in Arkansas. She traveled 1,000
miles to Washington to visit her brother, only to arrive the day of
her brother's death. Consider that Vince had talked to Sharon and
promised her an exciting personal tour of and lunch at the White
House. It seems apparent he was looking forward to seeing his sister.
Yet he supposedly killed himself on the day of her arrival. Such an
incredibly cruel way to miss his date with Sharon is not consistent
with the affection Foster felt for her.

98. For four years, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of the London Telegraph
relentlessly pursued the countless discrepancies of the Foster case.
During his investigations, his Washington apartment was broken into,
and his four computers were taken. Was this primarily to steal his
hard drives? His car was later broken into and his briefcase was
taken.

99. The late Jerry Parks owned a detective agency in Little Rock.
According to Jane Parks, his widow, he had often done mysterious jobs
for Vince Foster. She says that shortly before he died, Foster
telephoned Jerry. She overheard Jerry's half of the conversation. She
says her husband became highly agitated. He begged Foster not to do
something Foster was intent on doing. After Foster died, Jerry became
extremely fearful and started carrying a gun. He was gunned down
gangland style within a month of Foster's death. According to Jane,
shortly thereafter, teams of FBI agents ransacked the Parks' house.
They removed all office files, film negatives, tape recordings, and
floppy disks. Jane says these searches happened repeatedly.
Apparently, none of the searches or confiscations was legal.

100. According to Secret Service logs, at 7 p.m. the day of Foster's
death, an entry alarm went off in Foster's office. To my knowledge,
this has never been explained or even referred to in official reports
on Foster's death. According to Secret Service logs, at 7.10 p.m.
that evening, a group listed as "MIG" logged into the White House.
Aide Patsy Thomasson arrived at the same time. Ambrose
Evans-Pritchard believes MIG stands for Maintenance and Installation
Group, a group of experts who handle such things as safes and
surveillance equipment. MIG and Patsy Thomasson left together. No
official explanation has ever been given to account for these comings
and goings. Patsy Thomasson was one of the White House aides who
reportedly searched Foster's office. Did MIG assist her by opening
Foster's safe? Did MIG disable the entry alarm?

101. To my knowledge the following story has never been investigated.
Debra von Trapp was a member of George Bush's staff during his
presidency. She served as a computer surveillance expert. She worked
with a team that has been described as Bush's "plumbers unit." In
this capacity, she often worked with Robert Goetzman, an FBI agent.
According to von Trapp, Goetzman sounded drunk and extremely excited
when he called her California home from Washington, D.C., at 11 p.m.,
July 20, 1993 (the day of Foster's death). She says she records all
phone conversations. This is a partial transcript of her alleged
exchange with Goetzman.

RG: "We did him! We did him!"
DT: "Did who?"
RG: "Vince Foster."
DT "What do you mean?"
RG "We did him!"
DT: "Well, where did you do him?"
RG: "Well, we did him somewhere else, but we dumped him in a queer
park to send Clinton and his queer wife a message!"

Although von Trapp wrote a long letter to Kenneth Starr detailing
this and other allegations, to my knowledge, he never deposed her or
Robert Goetzman. Nor did he request the tape recordings of the
alleged phone conversation. Nor did he check the phone company
records to verify the phone call. Why not? 

Some Fostergate researchers suspect Ms. von Trapp is a disinformation
agent trying to cloud the debate. I spent several hours interviewing
Ms. von Trapp and did not hear anything that would support those
suspicions. My strongest impression was that she was genuinely
frightened. In any case, whatever one concludes about her
credibility, it remains rather odd that she has never been deposed
before a grand jury.

As a final note, I commend to your attention a videotape that is
available for downloading from Michael Rivero's website at:
http://www.accessone.com/~rivero/POLITICS/FOSTER_COVERUP/SUICIDE/suicid=
e.html

This is a compelling piece of evidence that completely destroys any
illusions that Vince Foster shot himself in the mouth. Skeptics have
pooh-poohed the nearly pristine lack of blood on his gun, hands, and
sleeves. Such doubters should watch this video clip. It captures the
suicide of Bud Dwyer, a public official, before a group of
journalists. The gun he used was more powerful than a .38, but this
does not affect the lesson one gains from watching the film. 

If you choose to download this disturbing film, you will see for
yourself that Dwyer's heart keeps beating after he shoots himself. A
veritable fountain of blood continues to spew forth from his mouth
and the exit wound. Gravity plays no role because his head remains
propped upright while his heart keeps pumping out a massive amount of
blood. This is not for squeamish viewers, but it is the most
convincing evidence you will ever see in connection with the coverup
of Vince Foster's death.


This list is tentative and remains open to corrections and debate.
I can be contacted at: adrem@atw.earthreach.com
Please put my name in the subject slot of all email responses.

Richard L. Franklin

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