Late-breaking news on the RFK assassination

Cannon here: Thanks to Gary Buell, I stumbled across an interesting document pertinent to the RFK assassination, brought to you by the good folks over at the Smoking Gun. The information amounts to little more than a tale told at second- or third-hand -- but, as we shall soon see, we may be able to track down a first-hand witness.

This FBI memo from August of 1971 summarizes an interview with a lady named Lila Hurtado, who, in 1968, had worked for one William R. Huntington, an interior decorator "to the stars" who kept an office on Sunset Boulevard. (The text makes it clear that he was gay, a fact which may be relevant.) Huntington told her of a tape recording made by a friend of his, an attorney named Ronald Buck who owned or ran a club called The Factory.

A side note: A little googling reveals that a club by that name still operates in West Hollywood; apparently, it caters to a gay clientele. I don't know if that was the case in 1968, or even if we are dealing with the same place.

Back to our story. According to Hurtado, Buck had made a secret tape recording of several "wealthy individuals" hobnobbing with bigwigs from Washington. These worthies were "gloating" over the deaths of JFK and Martin Luther King, and discussed plans to deal similarly with Robert F. Kennedy, who was then running for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Buck later played the tape for Huntington, who called Robert Kennedy. (How did he get the number? Probably via Peter Lawford, who was one of Huntington's clients.) RFK personally heard the tape while in California, and responded: "I can't do anything about that until I become President."

Hurtado learned from Huntington during this time, the names of three individuals who had attended the private party; however, she could only recall the name of a Mr. Hunt, who was a millionaire from Texas.

This would seem to be a reference to H.L. Hunt, a racist fanatic long rumored to be the money man behind the assassination. (Incidentally, Ken Russell's Billion Dollar Brain features a hilarious caricature of Hunt.) The idea of old man Hunt showing up at a private party held in a gay club is more than a little odd -- but, as noted above, I don't really know what sort of patronage The Factory attracted back in '68.

Huntington later claimed that he had received threats on his life. He died of a heart attack in 1971. Hurtado, his confidant and the teller of this tale, began to feel that she might herself be in some danger. Thus, she made contact with the FBI.

An interesting story -- but, alas, no more than that. The tape would be good evidence, if it still exists. Even a first-hand "earwitness" would benefit the credibility of this account. Might such a witness still exist?

Hurtado listed the names of several individuals who, she believed, might corroborate her story. One of these names struck me as familiar:

Lea Perwin (phonetic)
Ronald Buck's former Secretary
now employed with Diamond Jim's in Los Angeles

"Diamond Jim's" was the name of a chain of ritzy steak houses in Southern California; as it happens, my mother worked for this firm in the late 1970s. At first, I wondered whether this connection might be the reason why the name "Lea Perwin" struck a chord.

Then it hit me: "Lea Perwin" may refer to the woman who now styles herself Lea Purwin D'Agostino, known to the criminal class as "the Dragon Lady," a nickname she is said to relish. (I believe she married a man named D'Agostino.) Now a respected Deputy District Attorney in Los Angeles, she became famous through her aggressive prosecution of director John Landis in the "Twilight Zone" case. I would not be surprised to learn that her legal career began with a stint as a secretary to a well-known lawyer.

I'll let you know how this tale develops...