[Sample B: Approval/Signature Sheet] - George Mason University

“Frank Ragano is the highest level person to come forward claiming knowledge of the
conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy.” 466
The motive for Hoffa and the two mobsters is clear: they were feeling pressure
from the Kennedy Justice Department, and wanted to protect their criminal enterprises.
They also felt betrayed by their alleged support in getting Kennedy elected and by
agreeing to help the CIA assassinate Fidel Castro. Marcello had the added incentive of
revenge: Bobby Kennedy had him deported to Guatemala as an alien on April 4, 1961.
After he made his way back to the United States, Marcello allegedly swore vengeance
against Robert Kennedy. A Las Vegas businessman Edward Becker met with Marcello at
his farmhouse in September 1962. According to Becker, he mentioned the deportation
case against Marcello, causing the Mafia chieftain to declare in Sicilian “Get the stone
out of my shoe!” Marcello declared that he was doing to take care of Bobby Kennedy.
He cited a Sicilian saying that “if you want o kill a dog, you don’t cut off the tail, you cut
off the head.” 467 The head in this case would apparently by President Kennedy.
Becker’s claims sound like a scene from the Godfather films, and it is not clear why
Marcello would make such a threat in the presence of a man he did not know well. In an
ironic twist, Marcello was acquitted of federal conspiracy and perjury charges brought by
the Kennedy Justice Department on the day of the assassination.
What was Oswald’s role in this alleged Mafia plot? In Davis’ view of the plot,
Oswald resembled the lone nut of the Warren Commission: he was an avowed Marxist
466 Davis, 8.
467 Davis, 34.
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