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THE ASSASSINATION
OF MALCOLM X
L UNANSWERED QUESTIONS By George Breitman
2. THE TRIAL By Herman Porter
50C
I. Un
an
swered
Qu
estio
ns
By G
EO
RG
E B
RE
ITM
AN
Th
e Missin
g 'S
econ
d' M
an
DE
TR
OIT
, July 4 —
Som
e mys-
tifying q
uestion
s abou
t the assas-
sination
of Malcolm
X arise it you
carefu
lly r
ead
the N
ew
York
n
ewsp
ap
er reports p
rinted
righ
t after th
e assa
ssination
, as I h
ave
just d
one. S
ome of th
em con
cern
the role of th
e police.
I shou
ld ex
pla
in, a
t the b
egin
-n
ing
, tha
t I ha
ve n
o fix
ed th
eory
ab
out th
e killin
g. I don
't kn
ow if
agen
ts of th
e Bla
ck M
uslim
s did
it; o
r if agen
ts of w
hite ra
cists d
id it; or if agen
ts of the govern
- m
ent o
r the p
olice d
id it; o
r if agen
ts of a
com
bin
atio
n o
f these
forces, wh
o all hated
Malcolm
, did
it. I am
, at this p
oint, on
ly askin
g som
e qu
estions p
rovoked
by stu
dy-
ing d
ifferent ed
ition
s of th
e six
New
York
daily p
apers after th
e k
illing.
Certain
thin
gs seem agreed upon
by everyb
ody:
Th
e Organ
ization of A
fro-Am
er-ican
Un
ity had
sched
uled
a rally on
Su
nd
ay afternoon
, Feb
. 21, at th
e Au
du
bon
Ballro
om
in H
ar-
lem. T
his w
as o
ne w
eek a
fter M
alcolm's h
ome w
as fire-bom
bed
an
d h
e an
d h
is fam
ily n
arro
wly
esca
ped
inju
ry o
r dea
th. P
eop
le en
terin
g th
e r
ally
were n
ot
searched
. On
the oth
er han
d, th
ey w
ere all scru
tinized
by O
AA
U
aides as th
ey entered
the h
all. M
alco
lm h
ad
just b
egu
n to
sp
eak w
hen
two m
en b
egan a scu
f- fle d
elibera
tely d
esign
ed to
dis-
tract th
e atten
tion
of M
alco
lm's
guard
s„ Th
ree men
rush
ed tow
ard
Malcolm
, open
ing fire an
d w
oun
d-
ing h
im m
orta
lly; th
ey th
en ra
n
out of , th
e ballroom
, pu
rsued
by
several of Malcolm
's sup
porters.
Police said
that on
e of the th
ree, id
entified
later as Talm
adge H
ay-
er, 22, o
f Paterso
n, N
.J., h
ad
re-ceiv
ed a
bu
llet in th
e leg b
y th
e tim
e h
e g
ot to
the e
xit o
f the
bu
ildin
g. T
he p
olice a
lso a
lleged
th
at h
e had
been
wou
nd
ed b
y
Reu
ben
Fran
cis, a Malcolm
guard
. H
ay
er wa
s seized o
utsid
e the
bu
ildin
g b
y th
e peo
ple p
ursu
ing
him
. So w
as a
noth
er man
. Th
e p
eop
le beg
an
to b
eat a
nd
kick
H
ayer and
the secon
d m
an. P
olice arrived
and
rescued
the tw
o bein
g b
eaten
, tak
ing th
em a
way fro
m
the crow
d.
Th
e third
man
got a
way. H
e got a
way b
ecau
se the cro
wd
did
n
ot catch h
im. H
ayer and
the sec-
ond
man
also wou
ld h
ave got away
if the cro
wd
had
n't ca
ugh
t an
d
held
them
un
til the p
olice show
ed
up
. Now
let u
s turn
to th
e N
ew
Y
ork H
erald T
ribu
ne d
ated M
on-
day, F
eb. 2
2. T
his is a
morn
ing
pap
er, wh
ich m
eans th
at the first
edition
of the p
aper d
ated M
ond
ay actu
ally app
eared S
un
day even
ing,
a few h
ours after th
e killin
g. Th
e top
head
line in
the first (city) ed
i-tio
n rea
ds: "
Malco
lm X
Sla
in b
y
Gu
nm
en
as 4
00 in
Ballr
oom
W
atch
." T
he su
bh
ead
, over th
e lea
d a
rticle by J
imm
y B
reslin,
read
s: "P
olice R
escue T
wo S
us-
pects."
B
reslin's story in
this ed
ition re-
ports th
at H
ayer w
as "
tak
en to
B
ellevu
e Priso
n W
ard
an
d w
as
sealed
off b
y a
dozen
policem
en.
Th
e oth
er susp
ect was ta
ken
to
the W
adsw
orth A
venu
e precin
ct, w
here th
e city's top p
olicemen
im-
med
iately
con
verg
ed a
nd
beg
an
on
e of th
e hea
viest h
om
icide in
-vestig
atio
ns th
is city
has ev
er seen."
INT
RO
DU
CT
OR
Y N
OT
E
Th
is pam
ph
let reprin
ts twelve articles ab
out th
e assassination
of Malcolm
X on
Feb
ruary 21, 1965, an
d th
e trial, from Jan
uary
21 to March
11, 1966, of three m
en ch
arged w
ith th
e assassina-
tion. The three defendants w
ere sentenced to life imprisonm
ent.
The articles w
ere written for T
he M
ilitant, w
eekly socialist news-
pap
er. Th
e three b
y George B
reitman
, written
from D
etroit, ap-
peared during July and August 1965. T
he nine articles by Herm
an
Porter, w
ho rep
orted th
e trial in N
ew Y
ork for T
he M
ilitant, ap-
peared in its issues from January to M
arch 1966. G
eorge Breitm
an has requested that the following be added: "T
he
qu
estions I ask
ed ab
out th
e role of the p
olice in th
e assassination
of Malcolm
X w
ere transmitted to the defense attorneys in the hope
that th
ey wou
ld raise th
em d
urin
g the trial. A
s Herm
an P
orter's
reports in
dicate, th
ey delib
erately avoided
doin
g so. Read
ers sh
ould
also un
derstan
d th
at if the N
ew Y
ork p
olice were in
volved
in th
e assassination
(and
noth
ing said
or don
e at the trial, or in
the fou
r years since th
e crime, h
as absolved
them
of this ch
arge),
that in
volvemen
t could
not h
ave been
on tlagsir ow
n initiative, but
mu
st have resu
lted from
the d
ecision an
d d
irection of th
e govern-
ment in W
ashington, that is, the CIA
."
First printing F
ebruary, 1969 Second printing M
ay, 1969
Merit P
ublishers 873 B
roadw
ay N
ew Y
ork, N
. Y. 10003
Manufactured in the U
nited States of Am
erica
CO
NT
EN
TS
Part I. U
NA
NSW
ER
ED
QU
EST
ION
S by George B
reitman
The M
issing 'Second' Man
3
The R
ole of the Police
5
Were B
utler and Johnson There?
8
Part II. T
HE
TR
IAL
by Herm
an Porter
Selection of the Jury 11
The F
irst Witness
12
Unreliable O
bservers 14
Conflicting T
estimony
17
Technical E
vidence 21
Defense O
pens Case
22
Talm
adge Hayer C
onfesses 24
Summ
ary of the Testim
ony 26
Mystery N
ot Solved by Verdict
30 3
4 Next w
e tu
rn to
a la
ter (la
te
city
) ed
ition
of th
e sa
me p
ap
er
for th
e sa
me d
ay
. Th
e to
p h
ead
-lin
e is u
nchanged. B
ut th
e su
b-
head is d
iffere
nt. T
his tim
e it
reads, "P
olic
e R
esc
ue O
ne S
us-
pect." T
he "
seco
nd
" s
usp
ect h
as
dro
pped
not o
nly
out o
f the h
ead-
line, b
ut o
ut o
f Bre
slin's sto
ry
too
. No
thin
g a
bo
ut h
is bein
g
caught an
d b
eaten b
y th
e crow
d,
noth
ing a
bout h
is bein
g re
scued
by th
e p
olic
e, n
oth
ing a
bout h
is b
ein
g ta
ken
to th
e W
ad
swo
rth
statio
n, n
oth
ing
ab
ou
t the c
ity's
top p
olice co
nverg
ing o
n th
at sta-tio
n.
Not o
nly
does h
e disap
pear fro
m
Bre
slin's sto
ry in
the la
te c
ity
ed
ition
, bu
t he d
isap
pears fro
m
the
Hera
ld T
ribu
ne
altog
ether
from
that d
ate
to th
is. P
erhap
s the w
hole th
ing n
ever
hap
pen
ed? P
erhap
s Breslin
, in th
e heat o
f the m
om
ent, h
ad in
his
first story
repo
rted a m
ere rum
or
as a
fact, a
nd, b
ein
g u
nable
to
verify
it, decid
ed n
ot to
repeat it
in later ed
ition
s? B
ut th
ere
are
thre
e m
orn
ing
p
apers in
New
Yo
rk, an
d in
their
first editio
ns th
ey all said
it hap
-pened.
Fo
r ex
am
ple
, let u
s ex
am
ine
the first (city
) editio
n o
f the N
ew
Yo
rk T
imes fo
r Feb
. 22
. Th
e sub
-h
ead
is very
cle
ar: "P
olic
e H
old
T
wo fo
r Questio
nin
g."
Fro
m th
e Tim
es' city ed
ition
, we
even le
arn
the n
am
e o
f the c
op
who
captu
red th
e "second" m
an.
It is Patro
lman
Thom
as Hoy, w
ho
is q
uote
d a
s s
ayin
g h
e h
ad
"grab
bed
a susp
ect" bein
g ch
ased
by so
me p
eople.
Bu
t wh
en
we tu
rn to
the la
te
city
editio
n o
f the sa
me
Tim
es, prin
ted o
nly
a fe
w h
ours la
ter, h
we fin
d th
at its su
bhead to
o h
as
changed. It n
ow
reads: "O
ne
Is H
eld in
Killin
g."
But th
e sto
ry h
asn
't yet b
een
c h a n
g e d
altog
ether. P
atrolm
an
Ho
y still rem
ains in
the late city
sto
ry, a
nd
so d
oes th
e "se
co
nd
" m
an w
ho
has d
rop
ped
ou
t of th
e
subhead. In
fact, th
e sto
ry h
as
more ab
out H
oy th
an it h
ad in
the
city ed
ition.
This tim
e th
e
Tim
es rep
orts:
"'As I b
rought h
im to
the fro
nt
of th
e ballro
om
, the cro
wd
beg
an
beatin
g m
e and th
e susp
ect,' Pa-
trolm
an H
oy said
. He said
he p
ut
this m
an —
not o
therw
ise iden
ti-fied
later for n
ewsm
en —
into
a p
olice car to
be tak
en to
the W
ads-
wo
rth A
ven
ue statio
n."
Th
en H
oy
's captiv
e disap
pears
from
the T
imes as co
mpletely
and
as perm
anen
tly as h
e did
from
the
Herald
Trib
une, an
d fro
m all th
e o
ther d
aily p
apers.
Bu
t there can
no
t be an
y d
ou
bt
in th
e m
ind o
f anyone re
adin
g
the a
cco
unts I h
av
e c
ited
that a
second m
an w
as c
aptu
red a
nd
taken
away
by
the p
olice.
Who w
as he?
Why d
id th
e press lo
se interest
in h
im so
sudden
ly, at a tim
e that
it was fillin
g its p
ages w
ith a
ll kin
ds o
f material ab
out th
e mur-
der, in
clud
ing
the silliest triv
iali-tie
s and w
ildest ru
mors?
Was it
becau
se the p
olice "ad
vised
" them
to? W
hy
did
Patro
lman
Ho
y d
eem
the "seco
nd" m
an to
be a su
spect?
What w
as h
e d
oin
g a
t the tim
e
Ho
y g
rabbed
him
? W
hy
did
the c
row
d d
eem h
im
to b
e a
susp
ect?
What h
ad th
ey
seen h
im d
oin
g b
efo
re H
oy
grab
bed
him
? W
hy
did
the city
's "top p
olice-
men" su
rround h
im w
ith a
wall
of s
ilen
ce th
at h
as n
ot b
een
pierced
for 4
1/2
month
s? If th
ey d
ecided
he w
as innocen
t, w
hy d
idn't th
ey say
so p
ublicly
? T
hat is th
e usu
al practice.
Why d
idn't th
ey a
t least a
n-
nounce h
is nam
e? T
hat is a
lso
usu
ally d
on
e. W
hat d
id th
e "se
cond"
man
kn
ow
abo
ut th
e mu
rder p
lot an
d
the id
entity
of th
e killers?
It is extremely difficult to figure
out why the police (and the press)
beh
aved
in th
is way
. It leads to
an
oth
er questio
n:
Co
uld
the "se
co
nd
" man
hav
e
been
a po
lice agen
t?
Fanta
stic? O
nly
if you d
on't
know
anyth
ing ab
out th
e police,
FB
I, CIA
, etc. It is sta
nd
ard
pro
cedure
for
them
to in
filtrate
radic
al, b
lack
natio
nalist a
nd ju
st milita
nt o
r-gan
izations. S
om
etimes, as th
e re-cent "
Sta
tue o
f Lib
erty
" c
ase
sh
ow
ed, th
ese police ag
ents w
orm
th
eir w
ay in
to p
ositio
ns w
here
th
ey can
carry o
ut p
rovocatio
ns
or c
ause
oth
er d
am
age, in
addi-
tion to
merely
"reportin
g" w
hat
hap
pen
s insid
e the o
rgan
izations
infiltrated
. W
e d
o n
ot h
ave to
specula
te
about w
heth
er o
r not th
e p
olic
e
infiltra
ted th
e O
rganiz
atio
n o
f A
fro-A
merican
Unity
and w
heth
er or n
ot su
ch p
olic
e a
gents w
ere
p
resent at th
e Au
du
bo
n B
allroo
m
at th
e tim
e o
f the a
ssassin
atio
n.
Th
e a
nsw
er is y
es, w
itho
ut a
ny
sp
eculatio
n.
A "h
igh
po
lice official" said
, as re
porte
d in
the H
era
ld T
ribune
Feb
. 23, th
at "several" m
embers
of th
e hig
hly
secretive B
ureau
of
Specia
l Serv
ices (B
OS
S) w
ere
DE
TR
OIT
, Ju
ly 1
8 —
"Wh
y
don't y
ou a
dm
it that th
e B
lack
Mu
slims k
illed
Malc
olm
X, in
-ste
ad o
f tryin
g to
cast su
spic
ion
on
the p
olice? M
alcolm
him
self said
the B
lack M
uslim
s were try
-in
g to
kill h
im, an
d h
e was g
oin
g
to rev
eal the n
ames o
f the w
ould
-be assassin
s at th
e m
eetin
g o
n
Feb
. 21
wh
ere he w
as mu
rdered
." T
he a
bove is o
ne re
sponse
to
my
article in th
e July
12
Militan
t, w
here I to
ok n
ote o
f certain th
ings
prin
ted in
the N
ew
York
new
s-p
apers after th
e assassinatio
n th
at raised questions about the conduct of the police.
Th
e reason
I do
n't "ad
mit" th
e B
lack M
uslim
s killed
Malco
lm is
that I d
on
't kn
ow
that to
be a
fa
ct, It m
ay
be so
, bu
t un
til it is
5
pre
sen
t in th
e a
ud
ien
ce a
t the
time o
f the k
illing. (B
OS
S is th
e polic
e a
gency in
volv
ed in
the
Sta
tue o
f Lib
erty
pro
vocatio
n.)
Afte
r talk
ing
to th
is hig
h p
olic
e
official,
Herald
Trib
un
e sta
ff m
ember M
ilton L
ewis w
rote:
"It is no
secret that B
OS
S p
olice
— w
ho n
ever w
ear u
nifo
rms -
hav
e creden
tials to co
ver alm
ost
any situ
ation, so
that if th
ey w
ere re
quire
d to
have a
card
or e
m-
blem
of th
e Black
Natio
nalist sect
it is a
safe
bet th
at th
ey h
ad
them
."
So
perh
ap
s the "se
co
nd
" man
w
as a police ag
ent, an
d p
erhap
s th
e stra
ng
e b
eh
av
ior o
f the
top p
olic
e re
sults fro
m th
eir d
esire
to
pro
tect one o
f their o
wn "sev
-eral" m
en p
resent at th
e Audubon.
But in
that c
ase
, the q
uestio
n
must b
e a
sked a
gain
, and su
ch
qu
estion
s will k
eep o
n b
eing
asked
until th
e whole sto
ry is to
ld: W
hy
was th
e crow
d co
nvin
ced th
at the
"se
co
nd
" m
an
was o
ne o
f the
killers?
pro
ved
it remain
s on
ly a p
ossib
il-ity
— o
ne am
ong o
thers. E
ven
if B
lack M
uslim
s or th
eir a
gents
were
ou
t to k
ill him
, they
may
not h
ave b
een th
e only
ones.
Wh
at Malco
lm th
ou
gh
t abo
ut it
is imp
ortan
t, bu
t no
t con
clusiv
e; h
e d
id n
ot h
av
e a
ll the fa
cts
eith
er. W
hen
his h
om
e was b
om
bed
on
Feb. 1
4, a
week b
efo
re h
is as-
sassinatio
n, h
e defin
itely accu
sed
the B
lack M
uslim
s of th
e mu
rder
attempt. H
e believed it was a con-
tinu
atio
n o
f their b
itter a
ttack
s an
d h
arassmen
ts. O
nce h
e had
mad
e this accu
sa-tio
n, it w
as a
perfe
ct se
tup
for
oth
er forces to
kill h
im an
d h
ave
it assumed that the B
lack Muslim
s w
ere guilty
. I do n
ot say
it hap
-
Th
e Ro
le of th
e Po
lice
6 pened th
at w
ay; I sa
y it c
ould
hav
e hap
pen
ed th
at way
if oth
er fo
rces w
ere
out to
get h
im.
The p
olic
e a
nd th
e p
ress p
ub-
licized M
alcolm
's first op
inio
n, b
ut
no
t his la
ter d
ou
bts a
bo
ut th
at
opin
ion. Y
et it is a
fact th
at in
th
e la
st two o
r thre
e d
ays o
f his
life Malco
lm b
egan
to h
ave sec-
ond th
oughts ab
out th
e questio
n.
He to
ld asso
ciates he w
as "not all
that su
re it's th
e M
uslim
s" and
that h
e w
as g
oin
g to
quit sa
yin
g
it was.
And in
the last h
our o
f his life,
as h
e sa
t in th
e sm
all a
nte
room
of th
e Audubon B
allroom
waitin
g
for h
is turn
to sp
eak
, he to
ld
mem
bers o
f his o
rgan
ization th
ere th
at h
e w
as g
oin
g to
state
that
he h
ad b
een h
asty
to a
ccuse
the
Bla
ck
Mu
slims o
f bo
mb
ing
his
hom
e, b
ecause
thin
gs th
at h
ad
hap
pen
ed after th
e bom
bin
g h
ad
con
vin
ced h
im o
f the ex
istence o
f a p
lot b
igger a
nd b
eyond th
e
capab
ilities of th
e Black
Muslim
s. A
gain
, he m
igh
t hav
e been
righ
t or h
e m
ight h
ave b
een w
rong.
Th
e po
int is th
at he d
id n
ot k
no
w
for su
re, and th
erefore h
is opin
ion
one w
ay o
r the o
ther is n
ot c
on-
clusiv
e. In
my p
revio
us article I called
atten
tion to
som
e thin
gs th
at the
New
York
papers re
porte
d rig
ht
afte
r the a
ssassin
atio
n a
nd th
en
dro
pp
ed
like a
ho
t po
tato
: Th
at
the c
row
d h
ad se
ized a
nd w
as
beatin
g tw
o m
en w
hom
they
ac-cu
sed o
f hav
ing k
illed M
alcolm
; th
at the p
olice cam
e and
rescued
th
ese
two m
en; th
at th
ey la
ter
ind
icte
d o
ne o
f them
, Talm
ad
ge
Hay
er o
f Pate
rson
, N. J., fo
r the
murd
er; but th
at they
nev
er hav
e sa
id a
nyth
ing
ab
out th
e se
con
d
man
, wh
o h
as simp
ly d
isapp
eared
with
ou
t exp
lanatio
n.
Try
ing to
figure
out w
hy th
e*
police b
ehav
ed so
strangely
in re-
gard
to th
is second m
an, I n
ote
d
that th
ey ad
mitted
"several" p
olice
agen
ts were in
the h
all preten
din
g
to b
e o
rdin
ary
mem
bers o
f the
au
die
nce w
hen
the k
illing
too
k
pla
ce, a
nd
I specu
late
d th
at th
e
secon
d m
an m
igh
t hav
e been
on
e
of th
ese po
lice agen
ts. I said th
at th
is mig
ht acco
unt fo
r the w
ay th
e to
p p
olic
e d
ealt w
ith h
im, a
nd
then I a
sked a
gain
: If he w
as
a p
olic
e a
gen
t, wh
at w
as h
e d
o-
ing th
at c
onvin
ced a
part o
f the
audie
nce th
at h
e w
as o
ne o
f the
killers? In
the recen
t Statu
e of L
iberty
case
in N
ew
York
, it turn
ed o
ut
that th
e c
hie
f initia
tor o
f wh
at-
ever w
as p
lotte
d• w
as a
n a
gent-
pro
vo
cateur p
lanted
there b
y th
e city
police. W
hen
a Ku K
lux K
lan
gan
g m
urd
ered M
rs. Vio
la Liu
zzo
in A
labam
a, it tu
rned o
ut th
at
one m
em
ber o
f the g
ang w
as a
n
ag
en
t pla
nte
d th
ere
by
the F
BI.
It is well k
no
wn
, an
d M
alc
olm
poin
ted th
is out se
vera
l times,
that th
e polib
e and th
e FB
I hav
e in
filtrated th
e Black
Mu
slims.
These are reaso
ns w
hy I can
not
rule
out th
e p
ossib
ility th
at a
police ag
ent m
ight h
ave b
een p
art of th
e m
urd
er g
an
g, e
ven
en
-co
ura
gin
g th
e p
lot. It d
oesn
't at
all disp
lease the p
olice th
at Mal-
colm
is dead a
nd h
is movem
ent
beheaded, u
nder c
ircum
stances
that fa
vo
r bla
min
g th
e B
lack
M
uslim
s and p
ossib
ly w
ipin
g o
ut
their m
ov
emen
t, too
. If su
ch sp
ecula
tion is w
ithout
basis, if th
e p
olic
e d
id n
ot h
ave
an a
gent in
the m
urd
er g
ang, if
the p
olice w
ere in n
o w
ay im
pli-
cate
d in
the m
urd
er, th
en th
ey
sho
uld
easily b
e able to
clear up
th
e puzzlin
g q
uestio
ns ab
out th
e seco
nd m
an, w
hose id
entity
and
role th
ey k
now
.
While
they a
re a
t it, perh
aps
they w
ill cle
ar u
p so
me o
ther .
matters ab
ou
t their co
nd
uct.
Malc
olm
's body w
as h
ard
ly
co
ld b
efo
re to
p p
olic
e o
fficia
ls beg
an b
om
bard
ing th
e public w
ith
statemen
ts about h
ow
often
they
had
offered
him
pro
tection. E
very
official h
ad a d
ifferent fig
ure fo
r th
e n
um
ber o
f offe
rs, bu
t all o
f th
em said
Malco
lm refu
sed p
ro-
tection, B
etty Shabazz, M
alcolm's w
idow,
had a
noth
er sto
ry. T
ed P
osto
n,
writin
g in
the F
eb. 2
3 N
ew Y
ork P
ost, to
ld o
f her re
actio
n, th
e
nig
ht after th
e killin
g, as sh
e was
watc
hin
g T
V a
nd
heard
Dep
uty
P
olice C
om
missio
ner W
alter Arm
say
, "Of co
urse w
e offered
Mal-
colm
X p
olic
e p
rote
ctio
n m
any
times —
as la
te a
s the d
ay h
is house
was b
om
bed." "T
hat's a
lie," M
rs. Shab
azz said.
Eith
er w
ay
, the p
olic
e a
re n
ot
abso
lved
of th
e responsib
ility fo
r prev
entin
g m
urd
er. They
are sup-
posed
to p
rotect p
eople, th
ey are
supposed
to p
reven
t murd
er, even
o
f peo
ple w
ho
do
n't w
ant sp
ecial pro
tection, A
nd in
this case th
ey
kn
ew, m
ore th
an a m
on
th b
efore
Feb. 2
1, th
at M
alco
lm's m
urd
er w
as bein
g p
lann
ed.
That isn
't what I sa
y —
that's
wh
at they
say. "Acco
rdin
g to
the
police sp
okesm
an, th
e dep
artmen
t knew
in m
id-Jan
uary
that an
at-te
mpt w
as to
be m
ade o
n M
al-
colm
's life," the N
ew Y
ork
Jour-
nal-Am
erican re
po
rted
on
Feb
. 22. T
he p
olice sp
okesm
an d
id n
ot
say h
ow
they
knew
. This w
ould
be in
tere
sting, b
ut h
ere
let u
s co
nfin
e ourselv
es to th
e questio
n
of w
hat th
e police, k
now
ing ab
out
the m
urd
er plo
t, did
in an
d aro
un
d
the A
ud
ub
on
Ballro
om
on
Feb
. 21. . W
e a
lready k
now
that th
ere
w
ere "several" u
nderco
ver p
olice
agen
ts in th
e aud
ience. W
hat ab
ou
t outsid
e?
"Acco
rdin
g to
police o
fficials, a p
atrolm
an w
as station
ed o
utsid
e th
e b
allro
om
," the N
ew
York
W
orld-Telegram
reported
Feb
. 22.
A h
igh
po
lice official, after co
n-
firmin
g th
at p
olic
e a
gen
ts were
p
lanted
insid
e the m
eeting
, added, "A
nd th
ere were a co
uple o
f uni-
form
ed m
en o
utsid
e," the
Herald
Trib
une rep
orted
Feb
. 23.
"Dep
uty
Po
lice Com
missio
ner
Walter A
rm said
yesterd
ay [F
eb.
22] th
at a special d
etail had
been
assig
ned
outsid
e the b
allroom
. . . A
ssistant C
hie
f Insp
ecto
r Harry
T
aylo
r, in c
harg
e o
f Manhatta
n
North
unifo
rmed
police said
Sun-
day
[Feb
. 21] th
at two serg
eants
and 1
8 p
atro
lmen h
ad b
een sta
-
7
tion
ed in
the area," th
e New
York
Tim
es repo
rted o
n F
eb. 2
3.
Which
was it —
"a" patro
lman
, "a
couple
" or a
"specia
l deta
il" o
f 20
? W
hy
such
disc
rep
an
cie
s about a
rela
tively
simple
ques-
tion? W
hat d
oes it d
enote
-in
eptn
ess, indifferen
ce, or a sen
se of g
uilt?
Let u
s, for th
e m
om
ent, g
ive
the p
olice d
epartm
ent th
e ben
efit of th
e doubt an
d assu
me th
at they
d
id a
ssign
20
co
ps o
utsid
e th
e
Audubon. T
he sig
ht o
f them
mig
ht
hav
e h
ad
som
e e
ffect o
n th
e
kille
rs. Where
were
the 2
0 c
ops
betw
een th
e time p
eople b
egan
to
arriv
e fo
r the ra
lly a
nd th
e tim
e
of th
e k
illing? M
any w
itnesse
s saw
few o
r no co
ps as th
ey reach
-ed
the A
ud
ub
on
. M
rs. Patricia M
. Russell, a p
sy-
chiatric so
cial work
er of N
ew R
o-
chelle, w
ho
wro
te an ey
ewitn
ess desc
riptio
n o
f the m
urd
er in
the
Feb
. 27 B
altimore A
fro-Am
erican, said
, "Wh
en w
e dro
ve p
ast the A
u-
du
bo
n B
allroo
m ... th
ere were tw
o
police cars an
d eig
ht p
olicem
en -
two in
front a
nd six
standin
g
across th
e street at vario
us co
rners.
We h
ad to
look fo
r a p
ark
ing
space an
d d
id n
ot g
et back
to th
e ballro
om
for 1
0 m
inutes. T
he area
in fro
nt o
f the b
allroo
m w
as clear of p
olicem
en. T
here w
as not o
ne
offic
er in
sigh
t." Th
is was 1
0 o
r 15 m
inutes b
efore th
e murd
er.
Where
was th
e sp
ecia
l deta
il of 2
0 p
olice at th
is time?
If it had
dep
ended
on th
e cops
alo
ne, n
obody w
ould
have b
een
captu
red at th
e scene o
f the crim
e.
The "
severa
l" p
olic
e a
gents
did
n't d
o a
nyth
ing to
catc
h th
e
men
who sh
ot M
alcolm
dow
n rig
ht
in fro
nt o
f them
. T
almad
ge H
ayer, th
e on
ly p
er-so
n cap
tured
at the A
ud
ub
on
wh
o
was in
dicted
by th
e police fo
r the
murd
er, would
hav
e got aw
ay if
it had
dep
ended
solely
on th
e cops,
insid
e or o
utsid
e. So
meo
ne sh
ot
him
in th
e le
g a
s he fle
d, a
nd
the cro
wd ch
asing h
im cau
ght h
im
outsid
e th
e b
allro
om
. If it had
not b
een fo
r the sh
ot a
nd th
e
8
cro
wd, H
ayer w
ould
have g
ot
away
befo
re police sh
ow
ed u
p.
When
the p
olice fin
ally d
id ap
-pear, H
ayer w
as seized fro
m th
e cro
wd
by
Sgt. A
lvin
Aro
no
ff and
P
atro
lman L
ouis A
ngelo
s. The
Feb
. 22
Tim
es sa
id th
ey "w
ere
cru
ising in
their p
atrol car o
n u
p-
per B
road
way
shortly
after 3 P
.M.
when th
ey h
eard
shots in
the
Audubon B
allroom
." The F
eb. 2
2
Daily N
ews said
they
"were d
riv-
ing b
y."
Th
ere was n
o claim
by
any
bo
dy
th
at Aro
noff an
d A
ngelo
s belo
nged
to
any sp
ecia
l deta
il. They a
p-
paren
tly w
ere on reg
ular cru
ising
duty
out o
f their p
recinct statio
n,
and h
appen
ed to
be p
assing b
y as
DE
TR
OIT
, Au
g. 1
4 —
In tw
o
prev
iou
s articles I ra
ised q
ues-
tion
s ab
ou
t the ro
le of th
e New
Y
ork p
olice in th
e assassination
of M
alcolm X
last Feb
. 21, and
abou
t th
e ind
ifference o
f the N
ew Y
ork
d
aily
press. I a
m g
lad
to see th
at
I'm n
ot the on
ly one raisin
g qu
es-tion
s. N
at H
ento
ff, wh
o rev
iews th
e p
ress for th
e New
York
Villa
ge
Voice, n
otes in
its Ju
ly 1
5 issu
e th
at "
there h
as b
een a
curio
us
lack
of cu
riosity
am
on
g th
e press
as to the p
rogress the p
olice have
mad
e in in
vestigating th
e mu
rder
and
those w
ho h
ired th
e gun
s."
Hen
toff rep
orts th
at a
nu
mb
er of q
uestio
ns a
bou
t the p
olic
e
han
dlin
g of the case are ask
ed b
y A
lex H
aley
in h
is epilo
gu
e to T
he
Au
tobiography
of M
alc
olm
Xt
wh
ich is so
on
to b
e pu
blish
ed b
y
Gro
ve P
ress. He a
lso refers to
M
alco
lm's "
increa
sing d
ou
bts in
th
e days b
efore th
e assa
ssinatio
n
that if h
e were to
be m
urd
ered,
the (B
lack
) Mu
slims w
ou
ld b
e resp
onsib
le."
"Consider
the
hu
ge p
ress pla
y H
ayer an
d th
e peo
ple ch
asing h
im
spilled
out in
to th
e street. It is n
ot n
ecessa
ry fo
r me
to ch
arge th
e police w
ith in
eptn
ess or in
differen
ce — th
e facts speak
fo
r them
selv
es. T
he q
uestio
n is
why th
ey acted
this w
ay. A
nd re-
late
d to
that q
uestio
n a
re tw
o
oth
ers: D
id th
e killers act as b
old
ly as
they
did
becau
se they
had
reason
to b
elieve th
at none o
f them
would
be c
aught b
y th
e p
olic
e a
t the
Audubon —
whic
h (le
avin
g th
e
second m
an asid
e) is exactly
how
it w
ould
hav
e turn
ed o
ut if so
me-
one (n
ot a co
p) h
adn't sh
ot H
ayer
in th
e leg?
And if th
ey h
ad re
aso
n to
be-
lieve th
is, what w
as that reaso
n?
the
assassinatio
n receiv
ed," H
ent-
off sa
ys. "C
onsid
er th
e to
tal sil-
en
ce in
recent m
onth
s. Isn't a
ny
edito
r or re
porte
r at le
ast m
ildly
in
terested in
pursu
ing th
e story
?" A
ppare
ntly
not, so
far a
s the
New
York
dailies g
o. T
heir cu
rious
lack o
f curio
sity an
d to
tal silence
have re
main
ed u
nchanged sin
ce
Hen
toff tried
to p
rod
them
. T
he o
nly
response I h
ave seen
cam
e fro
m th
e H
arle
m w
eekly
, A
msterd
am
New
s, w
hich
prin
ted
an a
rticle
by L
es M
atth
ew
s on
July
31 u
nder th
e title
of
"Malco
lm X
Murd
er Is Unso
lved
." M
atth
ew
s recounts so
me w
ell-
know
n facts ab
out th
e three m
en
indic
ted fo
r the m
urd
er, a
nd o
f-fers th
e opin
ion th
at "it is do
ub
t-fu
l if the co
urt h
as a case again
st th
e three su
spects."
But M
atth
ew
s, unlik
e th
e re
-porte
rs on th
e b
ig d
aily
papers,
at le
ast m
ade in
quirie
s at th
e
offic
e o
f the D
istrict A
ttorn
ey,
wh
o is su
pp
osed
to
pro
secute
m
urd
erers. An
d h
e got so
me state-
men
ts fro
m th
e w
ives o
f two
Black
Mu
slims b
eing h
eld fo
r the
murd
er, N
orm
an 3
X B
utle
r and
Thom
as 15X
Johnso
n.
Matth
ew
s was to
ld
that
the
gra
nd ju
ry in
dic
ted th
em
, alo
ng
with
Talm
adge H
ayer, "a
fter a
n
investig
ation b
y A
ssistant D
. A.
Herb
ert Stein
." A sp
okesm
an fo
r D
istrict A
ttorn
ey F
rank H
ogan
told
the
Am
sterdam
New
s "that
Stein
is no
lon
ger co
nnected
with
th
e c
ase
and th
at n
o A
ssistant
D. A
. is curren
tly assig
ned
to it.
No d
ate has b
een set fo
r the trial."
The im
pre
ssion le
ft by M
at-
thew
's artic
le is th
at th
e D
. A.'s
office n
o lo
nger seem
s much
con-
cerned
about so
lvin
g th
e Malco
lm
X case, if it ev
er was. W
hich
puts
it in th
e sa
me c
ate
gory
as th
e
police d
epartm
ent.
Let u
s return
to th
e role o
f the
police. L
ess th
an tw
o h
ours
afte
r M
alcolm
was sh
ot d
ow
n o
n F
eb.
21, to
p p
olic
e o
fficia
ls handed
dow
n th
e line th
at the k
illing w
as th
e re
sult o
f a fe
ud b
etw
een th
e
Black
M
uslim
s and M
alc
olm
's m
ovem
ent; th
at is, the k
illers were
Black
Muslim
s or th
eir agen
ts. H
ow
could
they
hav
e decid
ed
this so
fast? How
could
they
be so
su
re o
f it that th
ey m
ade n
o e
f-fo
rts to se
ek th
e k
illers in
oth
er
,quarters? A
t the m
om
ent o
f their a
n-
nouncem
ent, th
ey h
ad tw
o m
en in
cu
stody as su
spects. O
ne w
as Tal-
madge H
ayer a
nd th
e o
ther w
as
an u
nid
entified
"second" m
an —
both
of w
hom
had
been
rescued
by th
e police fro
m m
embers o
f the
cro
wd w
ho th
ought th
ey w
ere
part o
f the m
urd
er gan
g.
At th
at mom
ent, th
e police said
th
ey h
ad n
o ev
iden
ce that H
ayer
was a B
lack M
uslim
or co
nn
ected
with
them
, and th
ey h
ave n
ot p
ro-
du
ced
an
y su
ch
ev
idence sin
ce
that tim
e. The p
olice h
ave n
ever
said th
e "second" m
an w
as a Black
M
uslim
; in fact, th
ey h
ave n
ever
said
anyth
ing a
bout h
im; w
ith
their arran
gem
ent, h
e just d
isap-
peared
from
sight.
So w
hat ev
iden
ce did
they
hav
e fo
r poin
ting to
the B
lack M
uslim
s
9
so c
onclu
sively
that th
ey n
ever
both
ered to
investig
ate any o
ther
possibilities? M
alcolm
had
man
y en
emies b
e-sid
es th
e B
lack M
uslim
leader-
ship
. An u
nbia
sed in
vestig
atio
n
would
consid
er all the, p
ossib
ili-tie
s. To
hav
e m
ad
e th
at k
ind
of
investig
atio
n, th
e p
olic
e w
ould
have h
ad to
pro
be th
e a
ctiv
ities
of th
e F
BI, th
e C
IA a
nd
them-
selves — all o
f whom
were h
ostile
to M
alc
olm
and n
ot a
t all u
n-
hap
py ab
out h
is murd
er. C
ould
this b
e th
e re
aso
n w
hy
they c
hose
to c
oncentra
te th
eir
investig
ation o
n th
e Black
Mus-
lims, a
nd w
hy a
fter a
few
days
they p
icked u
p tw
o w
ell-k
now
n
Black
Muslim
s and in
dicted
them
, alo
ng w
ith H
ayer, fo
r the m
urd
er? B
utle
r and Jo
hnso
n a
re w
ell-
know
n B
lack M
uslim
s, I repeat.
In Ja
nuary
they a
nd a
third
man
were
arre
sted a
fter a
n a
rgum
ent
with
an e
x-M
uslim
, Benja
min
B
row
n, th
at ended
in th
e shootin
g
of B
row
n. B
utle
r and Jo
hnso
n
were
out o
n b
ail o
n first-d
egre
e
assault ch
arges in
that case at th
e tim
e of th
e Malco
lm m
urd
er.
Neith
er was arrested
at the scen
e or th
e time o
f the M
alcolm
killin
g.
Butle
r was a
rreste
d a
t his h
om
e
five d
ays later, o
n F
eb. 2
6. Jo
hn-
son w
as arrested at h
is hom
e five
day
s after that, o
n M
arch 3
. T
he d
ete
ctiv
e's a
ffidavit o
n
which
Butler w
as arrested ch
arg-
ed th
at he, "actin
g in
concert w
ith
anoth
er prev
iously
arrested . . .
did
assault o
ne M
alcolm
X L
ittle w
ith g
uns." T
he d
ete
ctiv
e's a
f-fid
avit a
gain
st Johnso
n c
harg
ed
that h
e, "a
ctin
g in
concert w
ith
two o
ther m
ales prev
iously
arrest-ed
. . did
assault o
ne M
alcolm
X
Little w
ith leth
al weap
ons." T
he
gran
d ju
ry in
dictm
ent o
n M
arch
10 ch
arged
them
and H
ayer w
ith
willfu
lly k
illing M
alcolm
"with
a sh
otg
un an
d p
istols."
Now
I don't k
now
if Butler o
r Jo
hnso
n h
ad an
y co
nnectio
n w
ith
the m
urd
er o
f Malc
olm
. I don't
know
if they
had
anyth
ing to
do
with
its plan
nin
g. B
ut th
e charg
es
Were B
utler a
nd
Joh
nso
n T
here?
10 again
st them
are
not th
at th
ey
were co
nnected
, etc. The ch
arges
are qu
ite specific —
that th
ey as-
sau
lted
Malc
olm
with
weap
on
s, w
hich
would
mean
they
had
to b
e in
the A
udubon B
allroom
. T
hose
charg
es I can o
nly
greet w
ith co
n-
siderab
le skep
ticism.
My
skep
ticism is n
ot b
ased o
n
the fa
ct th
at th
eir w
ives a
nd
friends te
stify th
ey w
ere
both
at
hom
e a
t the tim
e o
f the m
urd
er.
I hav
e n
o w
ay
of ju
dg
ing
the
valid
ity o
f the te
stimony o
f the
wiv
es and frien
ds. M
y sk
epticism
is b
ased o
n so
meth
ing else.
As I sa
id in
my first a
rticle
, p
eop
le enterin
g th
e Au
du
bo
n o
n
the aftern
oon o
f Feb
. 21 w
ere not
searc
hed, b
ut th
ey w
ere
clo
sely
scru
tinized
by
Malco
lm's assistan
ts an
d g
uard
s. I fin
d it in
cre
dib
le th
at B
utle
r an
d Jo
hn
son
co
uld
hav
e g
otte
n
into
that m
eeting.
Th
ey w
ere well-k
no
wn
and
lead-
ing fig
ure
s in
the N
ew
York
m
osq
ue o
f the B
lack M
uslim
s. This
mean
s that th
ey w
ere well-k
now
n
to M
alcolm
's assistants, w
ho h
ad
wo
rked
side b
y sid
e w
ith B
utle
r and Jo
hnso
n le
ss than o
ne y
ear
befo
re the assassin
ation.
If Hub
ert Hu
mp
hrey
was stan
d-
ing at th
e door to
a Cab
inet m
eet-in
g a
nd
watc
hin
g w
ho
en
tere
d,
wou
ld D
ean R
usk
and R
obert M
c-N
amara b
e able to
walk
past h
im
with
out h
is know
ing th
ey w
ere
goin
g in
? It is ju
st as un
likely
that B
utler
and
Joh
nso
n co
uld
hav
e go
t into
th
e Audubon m
eeting w
ithout b
e-in
g reco
gnized
by M
alcolm
's as-sistan
ts, and sto
pped
. Is it a
ny
wo
nd
er th
at h
alf a
year a
fter th
e a
ssassin
atio
n th
e
District A
ttorn
ey's o
ffice consid
ers th
e case again
st Butler an
d Jo
hn-
son
so w
eak
that it d
oesn
't ev
en
s hav
e an A
ssistant D
.A. assig
ned
to it an
y m
ore?
Th
ere
is an
oth
er a
spect o
f the
case
that c
ries o
ut fo
r inv
estig
a-
tion.
On
Feb
. 9, o
r 12
day
s befo
re he
was k
illed, M
alc
olm
arriv
ed in
F
ran
ce to
speak
at a
meetin
g to
w
hich
he h
ad b
een in
vited
. He h
ad
spo
ken
in P
aris the p
revio
us N
ov
-em
ber w
itho
ut in
ciden
t. Bu
t this
time h
e w
as b
anned a
s "unde-
sirable."
Malco
lm assu
med
, and
said, th
at th
e Fren
ch a
uth
orities h
ad
ex-
clud
ed h
im b
ecau
se they
feared
an
d d
isliked
his ro
le in o
rgan
iz-in
g A
fro-A
merica
ns a
nd
Africa
n
group
s in P
aris.
Bu
t I have h
eard —
third
-han
d
— th
at a
fter the a
ssassin
atio
n
Malcolm
's associates expressed
the
belief th
at the reason
for his b
eing
exclud
ed w
as that th
e Fren
ch gov-
ernm
ent th
ou
gh
t he m
igh
t be a
s-sassin
ated on
Fren
ch soil, an
d d
id
not w
an
t to b
ear th
e o
nu
s for
such
a scand
al.
I stress this is "
third
-han
d"
; it is u
nverifie
d, a
ru
mor. B
ut it
seems to
me th
e kin
d o
f rum
or
tha
t deserv
es seriou
s follo
w-u
p.
Fran
ce does n
ot often b
ar Am
eri-ca
n citizen
s wh
ose p
ap
ers are in
ord
er, and
it tolerates a consid
er-ab
le variety
of p
olitica
l activ
ity
up
to a
certain
poin
t. Malco
lm's
assu
mp
tion
ab
ou
t the rea
son
for
his b
eing b
ann
ed cou
ld b
e wron
g. O
n th
e other h
and
, if the ru
mor
is true, th
en fu
rther lig
ht m
igh
t be cast o
n th
e iden
tity o
f the k
il-le
rs by d
iscoverin
g
wh
y th
e
Fren
ch au
thorities b
elieved
Mal-
co
lm m
igh
t be k
illed
wh
ile in
P
aris; w
ho g
ave th
em
reaso
n to
belie
ve it; if th
ey w
ere
actu
ally
to
ld th
at the B
lack M
uslim
s hav
e th
e resources to
org
anize a m
urd
er in
Fran
ce, etc. T
he F
rench
govern
men
t mig
ht
not co
operate w
ith an
investig
a-tio
n o
f such q
uestio
ns, a
nd if it
did
coopera
te its a
nsw
ers m
ight
not ad
d an
yth
ing to
presen
t know
-le
dge a
bout th
e m
urd
er. B
ut a
s N
at H
ento
ff ask
ed, "
Isn't a
ny
ed
itor o
r rep
orte
r at le
ast m
ildly
in
terested in
pursu
ing th
e story
?" A
nd if n
ot, w
hy n
ot?
II. Th
e Trial
By H
ER
MA
N P
OR
TE
R
NE
W Y
OR
K, J
an
. 18
— N
ine
jurors h
ave been
selected th
us far
du
rin
g th
e fiv
e d
ay
s tha
t the
Su
prem
e Cou
rt has actu
ally been
p
roceed
ing
with
the tria
l of th
e th
ree men
accused
of mu
rderin
g M
alcolm X
. T
he in
dictm
ent w
as read b
y As-
sistant D
istrict Attorn
ey Vin
cent
J. D
ermod
y a
t th
e sta
rt of th
e selection
on Jan
. 12. It charges th
e d
efend
an
ts with
mu
rder in
the
first deg
ree, an
d a
lleges th
at th
e d
efend
ants, T
hom
as Hagan
, also k
no
wn
as T
alm
ad
ge H
ay
er, 22
; N
orman
B
utler, 2
6; an
d
Thom
as Joh
nson
, 30 "w
illfully, felon
ious-
ly, and
with
malice aforeth
ough
t"
shot a
nd
killed
Malco
lm X
with
a sh
otg
un
an
d p
istols a
t the
Au
du
bon
Ballro
om
on
Feb
. 21,
1965. ' In
qu
estion
ing
pro
spectiv
e jur-
ors, D
ermod
y rep
eated
ly a
sked
w
heth
er testimo
ny
tha
t an
y o
r each
of th
e d
efe
nd
an
ts was a
m
emb
er of th
e Bla
ck M
uslim
s w
ou
ld p
rejud
ice the ju
ror. W
il-lia
m C
. Ch
an
ce, on
e of th
e two
court-ap
poin
ted attorn
eys for Bu
t-ler, ob
jected to th
ese references to
the B
lack M
uslim
s. H
e said
that n
o g
rou
p w
as o
n
trial, o
nly
the th
ree defen
da
nts.
Several p
rospective ju
rors were
asked
by d
efense attorn
eys wh
eth-
er they w
ould
give any m
ore cre-d
ence to th
e testimon
y of a mem
-b
er of th
e FB
I or th
e CIA
tha
n
to other w
itnesses.
Each
of the d
efend
ants h
as two
lawyers. T
hose rep
resentin
g Bu
t-ler, C
han
ce an
d J
osep
h B
. Wil-
liam
s, , an
d th
ose rep
resentin
g
Jo
hn
son
, Jo
seph
Pin
ckn
ey a
nd
Ch
arles T. B
eavers, are court ap
-p
ointed
. All fou
r are Negroes. H
a-gan
has retain
ed h
is own
lawyers,
Peter L
. F. S
ab
ba
tino
an
d P
eter Y
ellin, b
oth w
hite.
Th
e press h
as gen
erally rep
orted
th
at a
ll thre
e
defen
dan
ts have
been
iden
tified as B
lack M
uslim
s. H
agan, h
owever,
was
not k
now
n
as a
Bla
ck M
uslim
and w
as n
ot
reporte
d to
be a
m
emb
er at th
e tim
e of h
is arre
st. His a
ttorn
ey
repo
rtedly
den
ies Hag
an w
as ever
a mem
ber o
f the M
uslim
s. Hag
an
was sh
ot in
the
leg a
nd
ap
pre-
hen
ded
at the A
ud
ub
on B
allroom
at th
e time o
f the a
ssassin
atio
n.
Bu
tler and
John
son w
ere arrested
some d
ays later. S
pecta
tors h
ave b
een b
arred
fro
m th
e cou
rt du
ring th
e selec-tion
of the ju
rors. Th
e reason giv-
en is th
at th
ere is no ro
om
for
specta
tors b
ecau
se of th
e larg
e p
an
el of p
rosp
ective ju
rors w
ait-
ing to b
e called. H
owever, b
arring
of sp
ectato
rs is said
to b
e an
un
-u
sual p
ractice. T
he trial w
as originally to h
ave b
egu
n D
ec. 6 b
ut w
as a
djo
urn
ed
by Ju
dge C
harles M
arks b
ecause
of th
e Ch
ristmas h
olid
ay u
ntil
Jan
. 3. T
he tra
nsit strik
e cau
sed
a furth
er postp
onem
ent.
Alth
ough
there w
ere only ab
out
a dozen
Negroes in
a pan
el of ap-
proxim
ately 100 in th
e courtroom
th
e first two
juro
rs selected a
re N
egroes. George S
. Carter, a ch
em-
ist, autom
atically becam
e foreman
of th
e jury
wh
en h
e was ch
osen
as th
e first juro
r. Reg
inald
IL
Bren
t, the seco
nd
juro
r, is a su
b-
way
moto
rman
. T
he o
ther ju
rors are: M
rs. Sop
h-
Selectio
n o
f the Ju
ry
12
ie Belen
ky
, retired fro
m th
e jew-
elry b
usin
ess; Robert P
. Hix
on, a
signal m
ainten
ance m
an w
ith th
e tran
sit auth
ority
; Fred
rick R
. Ca-
ruso
, linoty
pe o
pera
tor fo
r the
Journ
al Am
erican; Gerald
M. S
ul-
livan, o
n th
e sta
ff of a
sale
s de-
partm
ent; M
rs. Vero
nica L
. Cam
il-
NE
W Y
OR
K, Ja
n. 2
5 —
The
trial of th
e three m
en accu
sed o
f m
urd
ering
Malco
lm X
beg
an w
ith
the o
pen
ing statem
ent b
y th
e pro
s-ecu
tion
, presen
ted to
the ju
ry o
n
Jan. 2
1. V
incen
t J. Derm
ody, th
e assis
tant d
istric
t atto
rney in
ch
arge o
f the p
rosecu
tion, ex
plain
-ed
that a
n o
pen
ing
state
men
t in
which
the p
rosecu
tor states w
hat
he ex
pects to
pro
ve in
the case is
req
uire
d b
y la
w. A
sum
mary
of
Derm
od
y's statem
ent fo
llow
s:
In 1
95
2 M
alc
olm
X b
ecam
e a
m
em
ber o
f the B
lack M
uslim
s, w
hich
was u
nd
er the lead
ership
of
Elijah
Muham
mad
. Malco
lm X
be-
cam
e a
min
ister a
nd
esta
blish
ed
M
osq
ue N
o. 7
in H
arlem. O
n N
ov.
23, 1963 Malcolm
X w
as suspended fro
m h
is duties as a m
inister an
d
remain
ed su
spen
ded
thereafter.
In M
arch 1
96
4 M
alcolm
X b
rok
e aw
ay fro
m th
e Black
Muslim
s and
form
ed
his o
wn
org
an
izatio
n. It
was k
now
n as th
e Org
anizatio
n o
f A
fro-A
merican
Unity
and also
as th
e Muslim
Mosq
ue In
corp
orated
, an
d h
ad
its head
qu
arte
rs at th
e
Ho
tel Th
eresa. He attracted
man
y
peo
ple in
cludin
g B
lack M
uslim
s. H
e held
week
ly rallies, in
variab
ly
at the A
udubon B
allroom
. O
n F
eb. 2
1, 1
96
5 at ab
ou
t 3 p
an,
Malco
lm X
started to
address an
au
die
nce o
f ab
ou
t 20
0 p
eo
ple
at
the A
udubon. T
he th
ree d
efe
n-
dan
ts, all a
ctiv
e m
em
bers o
f the
Bla
ck M
uslim
s, were
in th
e a
u-
dito
rium
. Talm
adge H
ayer (a
lso
know
n a
s Thom
as H
agan) a
nd
Norm
an (3
X) B
utler w
ere seated
letti, a ho
usew
ife; Vin
cent T
. La-
Pian
o, a san
itation
wo
rker in
Har-
lem; an
d T
ho
mas M
akw
cewicz, a
draftsm
an.
The d
efendan
ts face a possib
le sen
tence o
f life in p
rison if co
n-
victed
. New
York
State elim
inated
th
e death
pen
alty in
1965.
tog
ether, each
with
an au
tom
atic pisto
l. Thom
as (1
5X
) Johnso
n
was seated
alon
e, with
a sho
tgu
n.
By
a p
rearra
ng
ed
pla
n, H
ay
er
and B
utler created
a distu
rban
ce. H
ayer sh
oute
d a
bout B
utle
r try-
ing te
,,pic
k h
is pocket. A
t this
po
int Jo
hn
son
ap
pro
ach
ed
the
stage a
nd
fired p
oin
t bla
nk a
t M
alc
olm
X. In
the c
on
fusio
n,
Hay
er and B
utler ru
shed
tow
ard
the stag
e and
each fired
sho
ts into
th
e pro
ne b
od
y o
f Malco
lm X
. Jo
hn
son
dro
pp
ed th
e sho
tgu
n o
n
the flo
or an
d slip
ped
away
. Hay
er an
d B
utler w
ere pu
rsued
by
sev-
era
l people
but B
utle
r managed
to escap
e. Hay
er was sh
ot in
the
leg
; he w
as c
au
gh
t an
d b
eate
n.
Police rescu
ed h
im.
An a
uto
psy
show
ed th
at M
al-
colm
X d
ied o
f pelle
ts from
a
shotg
un, a
nd b
ulle
ts from
a .4
5
calib
er a
uto
matic
and a
9 m
m
auto
matic
. Polic
e re
covere
d th
e
weap
ons an
d b
allistics experts w
ill te
stify th
at th
ey w
ere
the o
nes
used
to k
ill Malco
lm X
. B
utle
r was a
rreste
d F
eb. 2
5,
196
5, a
nd
Johnso
n w
as a
rreste
d
March
3.
The d
efense atto
rney
s hav
e the
optio
n o
f also m
akin
g an
open
ing
statemen
t. On
ly P
eter L. F
. Sab
-b
atino
, Hay
er's lawy
er, cho
se to
do so
. In b
rief, S
abbatin
o sa
id
that h
e would
show
the fo
llow
ing:
Hay
er was arrested
on
Feb
. 21
an
d h
eld in
com
mu
nicad
o fo
r al-m
ost th
ree week
s. He w
as no
t ar-ra
ign
ed
or b
rou
gh
t into
a c
ou
rt of law
for sev
eral week
s. He w
as
not allo
wed
to see an
attorn
ey o
r an
y m
ember o
f his fam
ily d
urin
g
that tim
e. H
ayer d
enies categ
orically
that
he w
as a mem
ber o
f the M
uslim
m
ov
em
en
t, said
Sab
batin
o. H
e
wen
t to th
e A
ud
ub
on
Ballro
om
alo
ne a
nd
ou
t of c
urio
sity. T
he
perso
n w
ho sh
ot h
im, S
abbatin
o
said
, had a
crim
inal re
cord
an
d w
ou
ld n
aturally
seek to
claim
in se
lf-defe
nse
that H
ay
er sh
ot
Malco
lm X
. The id
entificatio
n o
f H
ayer as o
ne o
f the assassin
s was
by
a mo
b, h
e con
clud
ed.
Testim
on
y o
f the first im
po
rtant
eyew
itness, C
ary T
ho
mas, b
egan
th
e same d
ay, after a p
resentatio
n
of d
iag
ram
s of th
e b
uild
ing
an
d
aud
itoriu
m in
wh
ich th
e sho
otin
g
too
k p
lace. Cro
ss-exam
inatio
n o
f T
hom
as is not y
et com
pleted
after h
is third
day
on
the w
itness stan
d.
In resp
on
se to D
ermo
dy
's qu
es-tio
ns, T
hom
as testified th
at he h
ad
witn
essed th
e mu
rder an
d seen
it u
nfo
ld ju
st as Derm
od
y's o
pen
ing
statem
ent said
it had
. Th
om
as said
he k
new
the th
ree d
efe
ndants to
be M
uslim
s and h
ad seen
each o
f th
em
sev
era
l times in
Harle
m's
Mosq
ue N
o. 7
. T
hom
as told
the fo
llow
ing sto
ry:
he h
ad seen
Joh
nso
n sittin
g at th
e 'b
ack o
f the b
Fllro
om
wh
en h
e ar-riv
ed at ab
out 2
:20 p
.m. o
n F
eb.
21. H
e wen
t over to
Reu
ben
Fran
-cis a
fter h
e sa
w Jo
hnso
n. W
hen
Malco
lm X
beg
an to
address th
e au
dien
ce Thom
as was seated
in a
booth
on th
e left side o
f the ch
airs w
hich
faced th
e stage. H
ayer ro
se fro
m h
is ch
air d
irectly
in fro
nt
of w
here
Thom
as w
as sittin
g.
Hay
er sa
id: "M
an
wh
at a
re y
ou
d
oin
g w
ith y
ou
r han
ds in
my
po
c-ket," to
Butle
r who w
as se
ate
d
nex
t to H
ayer. H
ayer h
ad an
au-
tom
atic
pisto
l in h
is han
d. H
e
turn
ed an
d faced
Thom
as directly
. T
hen th
ere
was a
gunsh
ot a
nd
Th
om
as saw a m
an stan
din
g n
ear M
alcolm
X facin
g th
e stage. T
he
man
turn
ed
aro
un
d a
nd
Th
om
as
saw
it was Jo
hn
son
ho
ldin
g a
saw
ed-o
ff shotg
un.
Afte
r that, H
ayer a
nd B
utle
r
13 ran
tow
ard th
e stage. T
hom
as saw
them
bo
th at th
e stage w
ith th
eir back
s tow
ard h
im. E
ach w
as mak
-in
g th
e sa
me p
um
pin
g m
otio
n
with
his h
and, as if firin
g a g
un.
Th
ou
gh
he h
ad n
ever actu
ally seen
a g
un
in B
utle
r's han
d, h
e sa
w
"shells b
ein
g e
jecte
d fro
m th
e
pisto
l falling
on
the flo
or."
• C
ary T
hom
as has stu
ck to
this
story
thro
ugh all th
e cross-ex
am-
inatio
n so
far. Though h
e is dog-
ged
ly certain
about h
is observ
ation
of th
ese
events a
nd h
is mem
ory
of th
em
, his k
now
ledge o
f the
oth
er circum
stances su
rroundin
g
the a
ssassin
atio
n is -e
xtre
mely
fau
lty an
d h
is mem
ory
of alm
ost
every
thin
g else co
nn
ected w
ith th
e case
about w
hic
h h
e w
as q
ues-
tion
ed is o
utrag
eou
sly b
ad.
Thom
as d
esc
ribed h
is back-
gro
und u
nder q
uestio
nin
g b
y th
e d
efense: H
e has also
been
kn
ow
n
as Abdul M
alik an
d C
ary 2
X. H
e is 3
5, m
arried, w
ith fo
ur ch
ildren
, but h
ad n
ot seen
his w
ife durin
g
the tw
o y
ears befo
re the assassin
a-tion.
He h
as ow
ned
at least one g
un
ever sin
ce he w
as 15
and
usu
ally
carried o
ne o
n h
is perso
n. H
e had
o
ne w
ith h
im at th
e Au
du
bo
n b
ut
did
not u
se it th
en. H
e w
as in
th
e army
from
19
47
to 1
95
3 an
d
was co
urtm
artialed so
me 1
0 tim
es, so
metim
es for serio
us crim
es like
possessio
n o
f a pisto
l with
inten
t to
do b
odily
harm
. He w
as giv
en
an a
dm
inistra
tive d
ischarg
e fo
r b
ad co
nd
uct.
He w
as a
use
r of h
ero
in fo
r th
ree years, an
d a p
ush
er. He w
as co
nvicted
of p
ossessio
n o
f narco
-tic
s in 1
961 in
Bosto
n. T
he tw
o
year sen
tence w
as susp
ended
and
he w
as placed
on
pro
batio
n.
Thom
as said th
at he jo
ined
the
Black
Mu
slims. H
e testified first
that h
e jo
ined o
fficia
lly a
nd re
-ceiv
ed
his X
from
Ch
icag
o in
D
ecember 1
963, an
d left in
No-
vem
ber 1
964. L
ate
r he sa
id h
e
did
n't recall th
e date h
e join
ed. A
t anoth
er tim
e h
e te
stified th
at h
e
had
nev
er been
in M
osq
ue N
o. 7
,
Th
e F
irst W
itne
ss
14 w
here
he w
as a
mem
ber, a
fter
Novem
ber 1
963.
He testified
that h
e could
n't re-
mem
ber w
heth
er Malco
lm X
was
the m
inister w
hen
he jo
ined
. Th
ere w
ere
severa
l min
isters h
e sa
id,
bu
t he c
ou
ldn
't rem
em
ber th
e
nam
es of an
y o
f them
. One tim
e he said
he atten
ded
meetin
gs fo
r ab
out o
ne y
ear befo
re he jo
ined
. A
noth
er tim
e h
e sta
ted th
at h
e'd
been
goin
g fo
r two y
ears. T
ho
mas d
ecla
red
that h
e le
ft th
e Black
Mu
slims w
hen
Malco
lm
X d
id. H
e said h
e was a m
ember
of M
alc
olm
's org
an
izatio
n fo
r ab
ou
t a y
ear. (M
alc
olm
X w
as
killed
no
t qu
ite on
e year after h
e bro
ke w
ith E
lijah M
uham
mad.).
But T
hom
as nev
er disco
vered
that
Malco
lm fo
rmed
two o
rgan
izations
— o
ne relig
ious, th
e Muslim
Mos-
que In
c., a
nd o
ne n
on-re
ligio
us
but d
edic
ate
d to
win
nin
g "fre
e-
dom
, justic
e a
nd e
quality
" for
black
peo
ple in
Am
erica, the O
r-g
anizatio
n o
f Afro
-Am
erican U
nity
. H
e still th
inks th
ey a
re th
e sa
me
org
an
izatio
n —
that th
e O
AA
U
was p
artly
relig
ious —
even
though M
alcolm
X m
ade th
e dis-
tinctio
n re
peate
dly
. The O
AA
U
was n
ot fo
rmed
un
til man
y m
on
ths
after the M
uslim
Mosq
ue, w
hich
w
as an o
rthod
ox Islam
ic org
aniza-
tion.
Though T
hom
as claimed
to b
e a m
em
ber o
f the B
lack M
uslim
s, his te
stimony sh
ow
ed h
e d
idn't
act like o
ne. H
e remain
ed sep
ar-ate
d fro
m h
is wife
an
d c
hild
ren
durin
g th
e e
ntire
perio
d, e
ven
though th
e Muslim
s place stress o
n
the im
portan
ce of fam
ily life. H
e testified
he w
as sent to
Bellev
ue
NE
W Y
OR
K, F
eb
. 1 —
Fiv
e
eyew
itnesses h
ave testified
so far
in th
e trial of th
ree men
accused
of m
urd
ering M
alcolm
X, b
ut n
ot
much
light h
as been
shed
on so
me
Ho
spital (w
hich
is often
used
for
psy
chiatric o
bserv
ation) b
ecause
he w
as d
runk. T
his in
cid
ent o
c-
curred
in 1
963 after h
e supposed
ly
join
ed th
e Mu
slims. M
uslim
s hav
e a strict tab
oo
again
st alcoh
ol.
The m
ost im
portan
t contrad
ic-tio
n in
Thom
as' testimony rev
eal-ed so
far in
volv
es a
reversa
l of
the ro
le o
f the d
efe
ndants in
his
story
. Acco
rdin
g to
record
s read
at th
e tria
l, Thom
as te
stified b
e-
fore
the g
ran
d ju
ry o
n M
arc
h 3
, 1965, that Johnson. an
d B
utler, n
ot
Hay
er and Bu
tler, rush
ed to
ward
th
e stage after th
e sho
tgu
n b
last. T
ho
mas c
laim
s that th
is was a
slip
mad
e becau
se he w
as nerv
ou
s an
d in
fear of h
is life. At th
e time
of th
e a
ssassin
atio
n, th
e p
olic
e
told
the p
ress that H
ayer was th
e o
ne w
ho
had
fired
the sh
otg
un
. W
hen th
ey c
hanged th
eir m
inds
is no
t cle
ar.
In h
is testim
ony b
efo
re th
e
gra
nd ju
ry, T
hom
as id
entifie
d
Hay
er as a mem
ber o
f the Jersey
C
ity m
osq
ue.
Un
der cro
ss-exam
-in
ation h
e revealed
that th
e only
b
asis fo
r this w
as th
at h
e h
ad
seen
Hay
er with
mem
bers o
f the
Jersey C
ity m
osq
ue sev
eral times.
He co
uld
not recall th
e dates, ev
en
app
rox
imately
, wh
en h
e had
seen
any
of th
e three d
efend
ants in
the
Harlem
mosq
ue, th
ough h
e claimed
to
hav
e seen each
of th
em sev
eral tim
es. T
ho
mas w
as pick
ed u
p o
n M
arch
2, 1
965, a
nd h
eld
by p
olic
e a
s a
material w
itness in
a civil jail.
While
in th
e c
ivil ja
il he
was
indicted
for arso
n an
d tran
sferred
on Ju
ne 4
to a
regula
r priso
n in
Q
ueens.
of th
e qu
estion
s surro
un
din
g th
e case.
The p
rose
cutio
n a
lleges th
at
Malc
olm
X w
as sh
ot b
y th
ree
active m
emb
ers of th
e Black
Mu
s-
lirns o
n F
eb. 2
1 at th
e Au
du
bo
n
Ballro
om
, presu
mab
ly b
ecause o
f his sp
lit from
and d
iffere
nces
with
Elijah
Mu
ham
mad
. Tw
o o
f th
e d
efe
nd
an
ts, No
rman
(3X
) B
utler an
d T
hom
as (15X
) John-
son
, are
well-k
no
wn
Mu
slims -
accord
ing to
the p
ress, "enfo
rcers." H
ow
could
they
hav
e even
been
in
the b
allroom
when
Malco
lm's
follo
wers, w
ho k
new
them
, ob-
served
each p
erson en
tering an
d
check
ed th
e audito
rium
for p
os-
sible attack
ers? T
almag
e Hay
er, also k
now
n as
Thom
as Hag
an, th
e only
defen
d-
ant c
aught a
t the sc
ene o
f the
assassinatio
n, d
enies h
e was ev
er a M
uslim
. And h
e was n
ot p
ub-
licly k
now
n to
be a M
uslim
. He
was sh
ot at th
e scene, alleg
edly
by
R
eub
en F
rancis, o
ne o
f Malco
lm
X's g
uard
s. If he w
as one o
f the
atta
ckers b
ut n
ot a
Bla
ck M
us-
lim, th
at o
pen
s the q
uestio
n o
f w
ho o
rgan
ized th
e assassinatio
n.
There are o
ther p
ow
erful g
roups
besid
es the B
lack M
uslim
s who
were
very
anxio
us to
be rid
of
Malco
lm X
— in
clud
ing
the U
. S.
rulin
g class.
Cary
Th
om
as, the first w
itness,
who ' testified
for th
ree and o
ne-
half d
ay
s, was th
e o
nly
on
e to
• id
entify
all the d
efend
ants in
the
ballro
om
and to
say h
e kn
ew th
em
all to
be m
em
bers o
f the B
lack
M
uslim
s. On Jan
. 27 th
e transcrip
t o
f the te
stimo
ny
he g
av
e to
the
gran
d ju
ry o
n M
arch 3
, 1965 w
as read
into
the reco
rd. T
he acco
un
t of th
e a
ttack h
e g
ave th
e g
rand
jury
was q
uite d
ifferent fro
m th
e o
ne h
e gav
e at the trial (see T
he M
ilitant of Jan
. 31
). T
he d
ifference b
etween
his tw
o
stories, as w
ell as man
y o
ther d
is-crep
ancies, th
row
doubts o
n th
e tru
th o
f his te
stimo
ny
. He sa
id,
for ex
ample, th
at after the sh
oot-
ing sta
rted h
e g
ot u
p fro
m th
e
booth
he w
as sitting in
som
e 45
feet fro
m th
e sta
ge a
nd
walk
ed
fo
rward
to w
ithin
15
feet, or p
os-
sibly
7 or 8
feet or ev
en less, fro
m
the stag
e wh
ere Bu
tler and
Hag
an
were
standin
g p
um
pin
g b
ulle
ts in
to M
alcolm
X. H
e nev
er drew
15
his g
un, ev
en th
ough th
e assassins
had th
eir b
acks to
ward
him
, be-
cause h
e was afraid
he m
ight h
it o
ther p
eop
le run
nin
g aro
un
d. In
-ste
ad
he g
ot d
ow
n o
n th
e flo
or
in o
ne o
f the b
ooth
s. T
ho
mas claim
ed to
see Joh
nso
n
when h
e first e
nte
red th
e b
all-
roo
m, a
nd
to re
co
gn
ize h
im a
s a
Black
Mu
slim. B
ut h
e did
no
thin
g
to p
revent th
is pre
sum
ed e
nem
y
from
attackin
g M
alcolm
X.
Th
e scrutin
y th
e aud
ience w
as su
bjected
to b
y M
alcolm
's follo
w-
ers was reflected
in th
e testimony
of G
eorg
e W
hitn
ey, th
e fo
urth
w
itness. A
polic
e re
port o
f their
questio
nin
g o
f him
on M
arc
h 2
, 1965, w
as re
ad in
to th
e re
cord
. W
hitn
ey to
ld th
e police th
at when
he n
oticed
a mem
ber o
f the M
us-
lims fro
m P
ate
rson, N
. J. in th
e au
dien
ce he w
ent an
d sp
ok
e with
him
. The m
an sa
id h
e w
as th
ere
becau
se he w
as dissatisfied
with
th
e B
lack M
uslim
s. Tw
o g
uard
s th
en w
ent o
ver to
him
. They
had
h
im rem
ov
e his B
lack M
uslim
pin
an
d a
llow
ed
him
to re
turn
to h
is seat, W
hitn
ey said
. The q
uestio
n
of h
ow
Muslim
s in th
e a
udie
nce
were
treate
d w
as n
ot p
robed b
y
an
y o
f the a
ttorn
ey
s, ho
wev
er.
Whitn
ey te
stified th
at h
e h
ad
been
a mem
ber o
f Mo
squ
e No
. 7
for tw
o a
nd o
ne-h
alf y
ears a
nd
hdd k
now
n B
utler fo
r three y
ears. H
e sa
id h
e d
id n
ot se
e B
utle
r in
the A
udubon o
n F
eb. 2
1 an
d th
at he w
ould
hav
e recognized
him
if he h
ad.
Wh
itney
, wh
o liv
es in th
e same
apartm
ent b
uild
ing as C
ary T
hom
-as a
nd h
ad k
now
n h
im fo
r 15
years, testified
that h
e had
join
ed
both
of M
alcolm
's org
anizatio
ns,
the O
rgan
ization
for A
fro-A
meri-
can
Un
ity a
nd
the M
uslim
Mo
s-que In
corp
ora
ted. H
e se
em
ed to
hav
e a much
better g
rasp o
f what
they
were ab
ou
t than
Cary
Th
om
-as. W
hen
asked
wheth
er Malco
lm
X h
ad ev
er said w
ho w
as interes-
ted in
gu
nn
ing
him
do
wn
, Wh
it-ney te
stified th
at M
alc
olm
said
th
at th
e p
ow
er stru
ctu
re a
nd
the
Bla
ck M
uslim
s were
both
inte
r-ested
in h
is death
.
Un
reliab
le Ob
servers
16 Hayer w
as th
e o
nly
one o
f the
defen
dan
ts Whitn
ey id
entified
. He
said, in
fact, that h
e was th
e first one to
catch h
old
of H
ayer as h
e w
as fleeing
the b
allroo
m. W
hitn
ey
was w
alk
ing u
p th
e c
ente
r aisle
aw
ay
from
the sta
ge w
hen
the
shootin
g started
. He saw
two fig
-u
res run
nin
g b
ack to
ward
him
—ju
mp
ing
ov
er c
hairs a
nd
tellin
g
peo
ple
to g
et o
ut o
f the w
ay
. He
got a
look a
t only
one o
f them
, an
d sa
w h
im fire
twic
e w
ith a
la
rge g
un th
at lo
oked lik
e a
.45.
Whitn
ey m
oved
tow
ard th
e man
b
ut ju
mp
ed o
ut o
f his w
ay w
hen
th
e m
an fire
d in
his d
irectio
n.
The m
an p
assed w
ithin
only
two
feet and
Wh
itney
pu
rsued
him
ou
t th
e entran
ce and d
ow
n th
e staffs. H
e c
au
gh
t Hay
er fiv
e o
r six fe
et
outsid
e the en
trance o
f the b
uild
-in
g. O
thers also
grab
bed
him
. A
ssistant D
istrict Atto
rney
Der-
mody p
roduced
an au
tom
atic pis-
tol w
hich
Wh
itney
said lo
ok
ed lik
e th
e on
e he'd
seen in
Hay
er's han
d.
Whitn
ey te
stified th
at h
e d
idn't
realize Hay
er had
been
shot w
hen
he cau
ght h
im, an
d th
at he n
ever
saw
anyone fire
at H
ayer. H
ay-
er's attorn
ey h
as alleged
repeated
-ly
that R
eub
en F
rancis sh
ot H
ay-
er, and h
e Suggested
in a q
uestio
n
that W
hitn
ey's testim
ony w
as mo-
tivate
d b
y h
is desire
to p
rote
ct
Fran
cis. W
hitn
ey w
as in
carc
era
ted o
n
Marc
h 1
0, 1
96
5 a
nd
accu
sed
of
shootin
g a
man o
n M
arc
h 9
. He
was h
eld in
$50,0
00 b
ail, then
in
no
bail, th
en in
$1
0,0
00
bail, an
d
was fin
ally released
Nov. 2
3. H
e w
as a
lso a
ccu
sed
of sh
oo
ting
a
wom
an, o
n th
e sa
me d
ay a
s the
oth
er shootin
g, it seem
s, but th
at charg
e h
as b
een d
ismisse
d, h
e
said.
Whitn
ey w
as not d
ue to
app
ear as a
witn
ess, a
nd h
e n
ever te
stiw
fled b
efore th
e gran
d ju
ry. H
e ap-
peare
d in
court a
s a sp
ecta
tor o
n
Jan. 2
4 a
fter C
ary
Thom
as h
ad
men
tion
ed h
is nam
e. So
meo
ne in
-fo
rmed
Peter S
abbatin
o, H
ayer's
law
yer, th
at W
hitn
ey
was in
the
co
urtro
om
an
d S
ab
batin
o a
sked
to
hav
e h
im p
ut o
n th
e w
itness
stand
. Th
e pro
secutio
n called
him
as a w
itness a few
day
s later. T
wo o
ther e
yew
itnesse
s who
testified p
rov
ed th
emselv
es to b
e very
unre
liable
obse
rvers in
the
cou
rse of cro
ss-exam
inatio
n:
Vern
al T
em
ple
, 23 y
ears o
ld,
had
difficu
lty in
hearin
g an
d u
n-
derstan
din
g m
any o
f the q
uestio
ns.
He te
stified
that h
e k
new
Joh
n-
son
as "1
5X
" an
d h
ad
seen
him
sittin
g n
ear the b
ack o
f the A
ud
u-
bo
n B
allro
om
on
Feb
. 21
. Th
e
only
oth
er time h
e had
seen 1
5X
w
as at a big
Mu
slim rally
he h
ad
attended
in C
hicag
o —
but co
uld
not recall an
yth
ing else ab
out th
e trip
, the n
ame o
f the b
us lin
e he
used
, the fare, o
r the tim
e it took.
Most o
f his testim
ony co
ncern
ed
Hay
er. He said
that h
e was seated
on th
e,,,right sid
e of th
e audito
r-iu
m w
hen a
man sto
od u
p a
nd
said: "N
igg
er, get o
ut o
f my
po
ck-
et." He reco
gnized
him
to b
e Hay
-er, th
ough h
e p
ronounced h
is nam
e a
s "Hangan" m
eanin
g to
say
"Hag
an." T
emp
le said h
e had
seen
Hay
er on th
ree prev
ious o
c-casio
ns: first, sellin
g
Mu
ha
mm
ad
Spea
ks at L
enox A
ve. an
d 1
16th
S
t., near M
osq
ue N
o. 7
; secon
d,
in th
e mo
squ
e acting
as a gu
ard;
third
, in th
e Muslim
restauran
t. T
emple's reliab
ility as a w
itness
was sh
aken b
y a
questio
n p
ut to
him
by D
ermody after th
e defen
se cro
ss-exam
inatio
n w
as over. D
er-m
od
y ask
ed T
emp
le for th
e date
on
wh
ich P
residen
t Ken
ned
y w
as assassin
ated. T
emple resp
onded
th
at h
e w
asn
't sure
of th
e e
xact
date b
ut h
e kn
ew it w
as in 1
96
5.
The fo
urth
eyew
itness, E
dw
ard
DiP
ina, w
as a
man o
f 70, b
lack
but o
f Portu
guese
birth
. A v
ery
lik
able o
ld m
an, h
e tried to
please
his q
uestio
ner an
d ten
ded
to an
-sw
er "yes" w
hen
he w
as unsu
re. H
e had
difficu
lty in
understan
d-
ing
man
y q
uestio
ns a
nd
in a
n-
swerin
g th
em d
irectly.
He id
entifie
d B
utle
r and H
ay-
er a
s bein
g in
vo
lved
in th
e d
is-tu
rban
ce, but th
e rest of th
e story
he to
ld w
as differen
t from
that o
f th
e o
thers: B
utle
r an
d H
ay
er
were
in th
e th
ird ro
w fro
m th
e
front. B
utle
r stood u
p a
nd fire
d
five sh
ots a
t Malc
olm
X o
n th
e
stage. T
hen
he an
d H
ayer tu
rned
aro
und a
nd ra
n to
ward
the re
ar
of th
e a
udito
rium
, firing b
ehin
d
them
. In
DiP
ina's v
ersion
, they
nev
er ra
n fo
rward
to th
e sta
ge a
s the
oth
er witn
esses testified.
Though th
ere were m
any th
ings
DiP
ina sa
id w
hic
h sh
ow
ed h
is co
nfu
sion
in sp
ite of v
ery p
ositiv
e assertio
ns, o
ne sto
od
ou
t: William
C
han
ce, Butler's atto
rney
, asked
him
about th
e detectiv
e who d
rove
DiP
ina to
Bellev
ue h
osp
ital wh
ere he first id
entified
Hay
er. Then
he
NE
W Y
OR
K, F
eb. 8
— D
urin
g
13 d
ays o
f testimony in
the M
al-co
lm X
mu
rder tria
l, nin
e e
ye-
witn
esses to th
e assassinatio
n o
f M
alcolm
X h
ave tak
en th
e stand
an
d b
een cro
ss-exam
ined
at length
. B
ut little p
rogress h
as been
made
tow
ard d
iscov
ering
the tru
th ab
ou
t w
hat h
appen
ed o
n F
eb. 2
1, 1
965
in th
e Au
du
bo
n B
allroo
m w
here
• M
alcolm
X w
as shot, an
d th
e mo-
tive b
ehin
d th
e assassinatio
n.
A c
om
plic
atin
g fa
cto
r in th
e
trial is the cru
cial role in
the p
io-
ceedin
gs p
layed
by th
e police an
d
district atto
rney
's office. T
ho
ug
h
they
are the o
nes w
ho
represen
t "th
e peo
ple," th
ey can
hard
ly b
e consid
ere
d im
partia
l, and so
me
peo
ple su
spect ag
ents o
f the p
olice
were im
plicated
in th
e murd
er. T
he m
ost p
ow
erful p
eople w
ho
run,th
is country
had
a motiv
e for
havin
g M
alc
olm
X m
urd
ere
d a
t le
ast a
s s
trong a
s th
at o
f the
hierarch
y o
f the B
lack M
uslim
s. A
nd th
ey w
ere
in a
much b
ette
r positio
n to
get aw
ay w
ith it. R
ight-
win
g a
nd ra
cist g
rou
ps h
ad
mo
-tiv
es as well.
In th
e last speech
he delivered
at the A
udubon B
allroom
on M
on-
day, F
eb. 1
5, th
e d
ay a
fter h
is house h
ad b
een b
om
bed
, Malco
lm
17
poin
ted to
Charles B
eavers, o
ne,
of Jo
hnso
n's atto
rney
s, requested
h
im to
stand
up
, and
asked
DiP
ina
if that w
as the m
an w
ho took hirn
to th
e h
osp
ital. "Y
es th
at's th
e
man
," respo
nd
ed D
iPin
e.
Th
e fifth ey
ewitn
ess, wh
o h
as not y
et b
een c
ross-e
xam
ined, is
Jasp
er D
avis, a
54-y
ear-o
ld su
-p
erin
ten
den
t of a
n a
partm
en
t build
ing. H
e sa
id h
e w
as n
ot a
m
ember o
f any o
f the o
rgan
iza-tio
ns in
volv
ed. H
e iden
tified o
nly
B
utler, as o
ne o
f the tw
o in
vo
lved
in
the d
iversio
n, b
ut h
e d
id n
ot
see wh
o fired
any
of th
e sho
ts.
X accu
sed E
lijah M
uh
amm
ad o
f o
rderin
g th
e bo
mb
ing
of h
is ho
me,
but h
e wen
t on to
say th
at a situa-
tion h
ad b
een c
reate
d in
whic
h
anyone co
uld
murd
er him
and th
e B
lack M
uslim
s would
be b
lamed
.
Alex
Haley
repo
rts in th
e epi-
log
ue to
T
he A
uto
bio
gra
phy o
f M
alco
lm X
that M
alcolm
told
him
in
a phone co
nversatio
n o
n F
eb.
20 th
at h
e w
as g
oin
g to
state
he
had
been
hasty
to a
ccu
se th
e
Bla
ck
Mu
slims o
f bo
mb
ing
his
ho
me. "T
hin
gs h
aV
e h
ap
pen
ed
sin
ce th
at a
re b
igg
er th
an
Wh
at
they
can d
o. I k
now
what th
ey can
do. T
hin
gs h
ave g
one b
eyond
that," H
aley q
uotes M
alcolm.
Mo
re th
an
an
y o
ther in
div
id-
ual, M
alc
olm
X w
as a
thre
at to
th
ose w
ho
wish
to m
aintain
the
status quo in th
is cou
ntry
. Peter
Sab
batin
o, o
ne o
f the d
efense at-
torn
eys fo
r Talm
adge B
ayer, ask-ed
Geo
rge W
hitn
ey, o
ne o
f Mal-
colm
's follo
wers,
durin
g cro
ss-ex
am
inatio
n, w
heth
er h
e e
ver
heard
Malco
lm say
that p
eop
le in-
terested in
narco
tics m
ight gun
him
dow
n. "H
e said th
at peo
ple
wh
o w
ere interested
in
keeping th
e sta
tus q
uo m
ight g
un h
im
do
wn
," Wh
itney
respo
nd
ed.
Co
nflictin
g T
estimo
ny
18 M
alcolm
X m
ade an
eno
rmo
us
impre
ssion in
Afric
a d
urin
g th
e
last year o
f his life. O
nce h
e split
from
the M
uslim
s, only
11 m
onth
s befo
re h
is death
, the g
oal h
e se
t w
as to lin
k th
e struggle o
f Afro
-A
merican
s to th
e freedom
strug-
gle
s of th
e c
olo
red p
eople
s all
ov
er th
e w
orld
. His im
med
iate
aim
was to
get th
e U. S
. govern
-m
ent co
ndem
ned
as racist in th
e U
nited
Natio
ns, ju
st as South
Af-
rica h
ad
been
co
nd
em
ned
. H
e spen
t five o
f tho
se 11
mo
nth
s trav
eling in
Africa an
d th
e Mid
dle
East, m
eeting
head
s of state an
d
hig
h g
overn
ment o
fficia
ls and
speak
ing b
efore stu
den
t gro
ups. A
"tru
th sq
uad
" from
the U
. S. In
-fo
rmatio
n A
gen
cy acco
mpan
ied
him
where
ver h
e w
ent —
slan-
derin
g h
im a
nd try
ing to
undo
what h
e was acco
mplish
ing. B
ut
they d
idn't su
cceed. Jo
hn L
ew
is an
d D
onald
Harris, lead
ers of th
e S
tuden
t Nonvio
lent C
oord
inatin
g
Com
mitte
e, to
ure
d se
vera
l Afri-
can co
untries ju
st after Malco
lm
had
visite
d th
em
an
d re
po
rted
: "M
alcolm
's impact o
n A
frica was
just fa
nta
stic. In
every
country
he w
as know
n an
d serv
ed as th
e m
ain
crite
ria fo
r cate
go
rizin
g
oth
er A
fro-A
meric
ans a
nd th
eir
political v
iews."
Malco
lm X
was p
oiso
ned
while
he w
as in C
airo. H
is stom
ach w
as pum
ped
very
soon after h
e awoke
one n
ight in
enorm
ous p
ain
. No
on
e e
lse w
ho
ate
with
him
was
po
ison
ed. H
e men
tion
ed th
e inci-
den
t durin
g th
e questio
n p
eriod at
one o
f the p
ublic m
eetings o
f the
Org
an
izatio
n o
f Afro
-Am
eric
an
U
nity
at th
e A
udubon B
allro
om
in
an o
ff-han
d w
ay. H
e was p
rob-
ably
emb
arrassed to
speak
of h
is o
wn
pro
ble
ms, e
specia
lly w
hen
he
was so
wid
ely accu
sed b
y th
e pre
ss of b
ein
g ju
st a p
ublic
ity
hound.
Just 1
2 d
ays b
efore h
is assassin-
ation, M
alcolm
X w
as barred
from
F
rance. H
e was to
address a m
eet-in
g o
f Afro
-Am
ericans an
d A
fri-cans in
Paris a
nd fle
w th
ere
, but
was k
ept fro
m leav
ing th
e airport
and fo
rced to
fly d
irectly b
ack to
B
ritain
by F
rench o
fficia
ls. The
reason fo
r this h
ighly
unusu
al act by th
e F
rench: g
overn
ment w
as
never sta
ted, b
ut o
ne ru
mor w
as
that th
ey fe
are
d th
ey
wo
uld
be
embarrassed
by h
avin
g h
im assas-
sinated
on F
rench
soil.
One o
ther ru
mor th
at should
be
taken
note o
f in an
oth
er connec-
tion is th
e rum
or th
at was sp
read
among so
me N
ew Y
ork
policem
en
that M
alc
olm
X's g
roup h
ad b
e-
com
e an o
rgan
ized crim
inal g
ang.
I don't k
now
who started
to sp
read
this lie
or h
ow
long b
efo
re th
e
assassinatio
n it w
as told
to p
olice,
but it certain
ly m
ust h
ave "ju
sti-fied
" any attack
s on M
alcolm
or
his fo
llow
ers to th
ose p
olice w
ho
believ
ed th
e story
. F
or a
lr, of th
ese reasons, th
ere are
gro
unds fo
r susp
icio
n th
at
som
e a
gency o
f the g
overn
ment
was in
volv
ed in
one w
ay o
r an-
oth
er in th
e assassinatio
n, an
d th
at th
ose
charg
ed w
ith fin
din
g th
e
kille
rs may in
deed b
e c
overin
g
up fo
r them
. T
he p
olice m
ust h
ave in
terview
-ed
a great m
any o
f the estim
ated
400 p
eople w
ho w
ere at the A
udu-
bon w
hen
Malco
lm w
as shot. D
id
they se
lect th
e w
itnesse
s who
could
be fitte
d in
to th
e p
rose
cu-
tion's sto
ry? S
om
e h
ad se
en a
sm
all part o
f what h
appen
ed an
d
could
n't co
ntrad
ict the rest o
f the
pro
secutio
n's v
ersion. W
ere oth
ers su
bje
cte
d to
pre
ssure
by th
e p
o-
lice, to
learn
to re
mem
ber w
hat
the p
olice w
anted
? Oth
er witn
ess-es w
ere
confu
sed b
ut o
pen to
su
ggestio
n b
y th
e auth
orities.
New
spap
er accounts o
f the k
ill-in
g a
t the tim
e sa
id a
t least fiv
e
men
were in
vo
lved
in th
e attack
— tw
o in
a d
iversio
n a
nd th
ree
t„ doin
g th
e shootin
g. T
he p
olice said
th
ey w
ere
lookin
g fo
r five m
en.
Th
e pro
secutio
n n
ow
claims o
nly
th
ree m
en w
ere
involv
ed, a
nd
no
ne o
f the w
itnesses h
as con
tra-dicted
that in
court.
Tw
o o
f them
, how
ever, testified
befo
re th
e g
ran
d ju
ry la
st sprin
g
to a
course
of e
vents in
volv
ing
mo
re th
an
thre
e a
ssassin
s. Th
e
last w
itness to
testify
, Charle
s B
lackw
ell, is one o
f them
. Black
-w
ell was a g
uard
standin
g in
front
of th
e stage, o
n th
e left side fro
m
the p
oin
t of v
iew o
f the au
dien
ce, at th
e tim
e o
f the sh
ootin
g. H
e
seemed
like a v
ery so
ber, serio
us,
reliable w
itness as h
e testified in
co
urt to
seein
g m
ost o
f the a
c-
tion u
nfo
ld; a
nd h
e to
ld it in
court ju
st as A
ssistant D
istrict
Atto
rney D
erm
ody sa
id it h
ad
hap
pen
ed:
When a scuffle betw
een two m
en started
, Black
well m
ov
ed to
ward
th
e m
iddle
aisle
, he sa
id. W
hen
he reach
ed th
e first row
he h
eard
a blast b
ehin
d h
im an
d saw
Mal-
colm
X fall. T
hen
he h
eard sh
ots,
turn
ed an
d saw
the tw
o m
en w
ho
had
been
scufflin
g ru
nnin
g d
ow
n
the aisle to
ward
him
shootin
g at
Malco
lm X
. B
lackw
ell iden
tified th
e two as
the d
efendan
ts Norm
an (3
X) B
ut-
ler a
nd T
alm
adge H
ayer, a
lso
know
n as T
hom
as Hag
an. B
utler
poin
ted h
is gun at B
lackw
ell and
Bla
ckw
ell d
ucked to
the flo
or.
They b
oth
ran p
ast h
im to
ward
th
e rostru
m, th
en tu
rned
and ran
up th
e aisle, Black
well testified
. H
e "gav
e chase" an
d th
en h
e no
-ticed
a man
standin
g fo
ur o
r five
row
s back w
ho tu
rned a
nd ra
n
into
the lad
ies' lounge. B
lackw
ell id
entifie
d th
at m
an a
s Thom
as
(15
X) Jo
hn
son
, the th
ird d
efen-
dan
t. B
lackw
ell's a
ccount o
f the
even
ts befo
re the g
rand ju
ry so
me
time o
n M
arch 9
, 19
65
, ho
wev
er, w
as v
ery
diffe
ren
t, alth
ou
gh
he
iden
tified th
e same th
ree men
. Ac-
co
rdin
g to
this sto
ry: T
wo
men
started
to scu
ffle. Then
som
ethin
g
went "p
op." It se
em
ed to
com
e
from
the b
ack o
f the au
dito
rium
. T
his w
as follo
wed
by a v
olley
of
shots, b
ut B
lackw
ell did
not see
where th
ey cam
e from
. Then
But-
ler and H
ayer, w
ho w
ere not in
- volv
ed in
the sc
uffle
but h
ad
been
sitting in
the first an
d seco
nd
seat o
f the first ro
w, ra
n up th
e aisle
tow
ard
the b
ack w
here
the
19
exit w
as, sh
ootin
g o
ver p
eople
's heads.. H
e te
stified th
at h
e
saw
Johnso
n ru
n in
to th
e ladies' ro
om
. H
e could
not id
entify
the tw
o m
en
in th
e sc
uffle
. But It w
as c
lear
from
this te
stimony
the
gra
nd ju
ry th
at th
ere
'Were
two
oth
ers besid
es the th
ree defen
dan
ts he id
entified
. W
hen
he w
as questio
ned
about
the d
iscrepan
cies Black
well testi-
fied th
at h
e h
ad lie
d b
efo
re th
e
gra
nd ju
ry, b
ecause h
e w
as
asham
ed h
e had
left his p
ost, an
d
did
not w
ant a
nyone to
know
he
had
duck
ed d
ow
n w
hen
one o
f the
assassins p
oin
ted h
is gun at h
im.
Bla
ckw
ell sa
id th
at a
fter th
e
sho
otin
g F
red W
illiams, th
e pre-
vio
us w
itness to
take th
e sta
nd
and te
stify a
gain
st Butle
r and
Johnso
n, p
oin
ted o
ut a saw
ed o
ff sh
otg
un an
d a G
erman
Luger ly
ing
on
the flo
or. B
lack
well w
rap
ped
th
e sh
otg
un in
his b
row
n su
it ja
cket a
nd g
ave it to
Reuben
Fran
cis who w
as standin
g o
n th
e sta
ge a
t the tim
e, h
e e
xpla
ined,
Then h
e p
icked u
p a
jacket h
e
found o
n th
e flo
or, w
rapped th
e
Luger in
it and g
ave th
is to F
ran-
cis as well. A
ccord
ing to
his g
rand
jury
testimony B
lackw
ell gav
e the
Luger to
a Bro
ther G
ene w
ho w
as also
on th
e stage. B
lackw
ell claim-
ed h
e was in
erro
r wh
en
he sa
id
this b
efo
re th
e g
ran
d ju
ry.
The w
itness te
stified th
at h
e
left th
e a
udito
rium
alo
ng w
ith
Fra
ncis a
nd a
third
man w
hose
car th
ey d
rove aro
und in
for sev
-era
l hours. F
rancis to
ld h
im h
e
had le
ft the sh
otg
un in
the ball-
room
beh
ind th
e stage.
Th
e sh
otg
un
he id
en
tified
in
the co
urtro
om
is double b
arreled,
but in
his g
rand ju
ry te
stimony
Black
well d
escribed
the w
eapon
as sin
gle
barre
led w
ith o
ne trig
-ger b
ut said
he h
ad n
ot ex
amin
ed
it clo
sely
. It looked lik
e a
n o
ld-
fashio
ned
duelin
g p
istol h
e said.
He w
as n
ot su
re it w
as a
saw
ed-
off sh
otg
un b
ecause
he'd
neV
er,
seen o
ne b
efore.
The o
ther w
itness w
hose g
rand
jury
testimony in
volv
ed m
ore th
an
20 th
ree a
ttack
ers is C
ary
Th
om
as.
Th
e sto
ry h
e to
ld o
n M
arc
h 3
b
efo
re th
e g
ran
d ju
ry is in
brie
f as fo
llow
s: Hayer a
nd B
utle
r created
a distu
rban
ce. Hay
er be-
cam
e in
volv
ed in
a fig
ht w
ith
som
e o
f Malc
olm
X's fo
llow
ers,
while B
utler an
d Jo
hnso
n ru
shed
to
the sta
ge a
nd fire
d g
uns a
t M
alcolm
. Joh
nso
n's g
un
was id
en-
tified as a h
and g
un an
d T
hom
as did
not m
entio
n se
ein
g a
nyone
fire a
sho
tgu
n. P
resu
mab
ly th
at
was fire
d b
y a
fourth
assa
ilant.
Th
e sto
ry th
e p
rose
cu
tion
said
it w
ould
pro
ve in
volv
ing o
nly
th
ree a
ssaila
nts is e
xtre
mely
du-
bio
us o
n th
e face of it. W
hy
wo
uld
tw
o o
f the th
ree killers d
eliberate-
ly attract atten
tion to
them
selves
befo
re they
ran d
ow
n to
the stag
e w
ith g
uns firin
g? T
his w
ould
h
ardly
serve as a d
iversio
n if th
ey
them
selves w
ere the g
un
men
. D
id th
ey h
ave su
fficie
nt tim
e
afte
r the tw
o sh
otg
un b
lasts to
ru
n d
ow
n to
the sta
ge? T
he d
e-
fense
atto
rneys h
ave n
ot p
robed
this q
uestio
n.
An
oth
er im
po
rtan
t part o
f the
pro
secu
tion
's case
wh
ich
ring
s fa
lse to
those
fam
iliar w
ith th
e
situatio
n is th
e c
laim
that th
e
thre
e m
en w
ere
activ
e m
em
bers
of th
e B
lack M
uslim
s, and th
at
their m
otiv
e for k
illing M
alcolm
X
was h
is defectio
n fro
m th
e Mu
s-lim
s. If the B
lack M
uslim
s de-
cid
ed to
kill M
alc
olm
X w
ould
th
ey se
nd Jo
hnso
n a
nd B
utle
r, tw
o w
ell-kn
ow
n lo
cal "enfo
rcers" w
ho h
ad asso
ciated w
ith M
alcolm
X
and
his fo
llow
ers for y
ears? T
he d
efense atto
rney
s hav
e no
t fu
lly u
tilized th
e o
pportu
nitie
s th
ey h
ad th
us far to
mak
e the sit-
uatio
n c
lear to
the ju
ry. Jo
hn
Davis, w
ho te
stified to
seein
g
Hay
er ru
n to
ward
the e
xit firin
g
a pisto
l, was in
charg
e of p
ostin
g
the g
uard
s at th
e sta
ge. N
one o
f th
e la
wyers fo
r Butle
r or Jo
hn-
son cro
ss-exam
ined
him
about th
e p
recau
tion
s tak
en
to p
rev
en
t know
n M
uslim
s from
enterin
g th
e b
allro
om
to a
ttack
Malc
olm
, th
ough th
ey m
ust re
aliz
e
such precau
tions w
ere taken
.
Hay
er's attorn
ey failed
to b
ring
o
ut th
e fact that B
lackw
ell wo
uld
hav
e know
n H
ayer if H
ayer h
ad
been
a mem
ber o
f the B
lack M
us-
lims. B
lackw
ell te
stified h
e w
as
a mem
ber o
f the B
lack M
uslim
s fro
m 1
959 to
1964 an
d a lieu
tenan
t at th
e Je
rsey C
ity m
osq
ue. H
e
did
not k
now
Hayer, h
ow
ever,
when
he saw
him
at the A
udubon
Ballro
om
. Cary
Th
om
as testified
Hay
er was a m
emb
er of th
e Jer-sey
City
mosq
ue. H
ayer d
enies h
e w
as ever a M
uslim
. T
he q
uestio
n o
f wheth
er or n
ot
Hayer is a
Muslim
is importa
nt
in fin
din
g o
ut th
e truth
about th
e assassin
ation
. Hay
er was n
ot p
ub
-licly
kn
ow
n as a M
uslim
in P
ater-so
n, N
. J. where h
e lived
. At th
e tim
e o
f Malc
olm
's death
, Hayer
had
been
1st%
on
bail fo
r abo
ut a
year o
n th
e c
harg
e o
f havin
g
robbed a
'gun sto
re o
f som
e 4
0
weapons. H
e w
as sh
ot a
nd c
ap-
ture
d b
y th
e c
row
d a
t the sc
ene
of th
e k
illing. S
ix w
itnesse
s so
far, among th
em G
eorg
e Whitn
ey
and Jo
hn D
avis w
ho w
ere closely
asso
cia
ted w
ith M
alc
olm
X a
nd
had
no
inco
nsiste
ncie
s in th
eir
testimony, id
entified
him
firing a
gu
n. T
he w
eigh
t of ev
iden
ce thu
s far in
dicates th
at he is a g
un
man
, hire
d o
r forc
ed to
partic
ipate
in
the m
urd
er, bu
t no
t a mem
ber o
f th
e Black
Muslim
s. If th
at is
true, it ra
ises th
e
nex
t qu
estion
: Wh
o h
ired h
im o
r pressu
red h
im to
com
mit m
urd
er?
Th
e defen
se attorn
eys h
ave also
failed
to raise an
y q
uestio
n ab
out
the seco
nd su
spect w
ho w
as res-cu
ed fro
m th
e audien
ce and tak
en
into
custo
dy b
y P
atrolm
an T
hom
-as H
oy in
the A
udubon B
allroom
. T
his su
spect w
as released w
ithout
his n
ame ev
er bein
g m
ade p
ub
lic. *O
ne o
f the w
itnesses to
testify o
n
Feb
. 4 w
as A
lvin
Aro
noff, th
e
policem
an w
ho w
as on rad
io p
a-tro
l and h
appened b
y th
e A
udu-
bon a
t the tim
e o
f the m
urd
er.
He testified
that h
e rescued
Hay
-er fro
m th
e c
row
d o
utsid
e th
e
Au
du
bo
n an
d th
en arrested
him
. H
e said h
e did
n't see
the cro
wd
attack
ing an
y o
ther su
spect.
This seco
nd su
spect d
isappeared
fro
m th
e pag
es of th
e press. T
he
first accou
nts m
entio
ned
him
, bu
t later sto
ries dro
pp
ed an
y m
entio
n
of h
is bein
g ta
ken in
to c
usto
dy.
Su
rely
the d
efe
nse
mu
st be in
-terested
in w
ho h
e is. They
mig
ht
hav
e b
eg
un
to fin
d o
ut b
y q
ues-
tionin
g A
ronoff ab
out th
e police-
man w
ho w
as re
porte
d to
have
taken th
e su
spect in
to c
usto
dy.
Bu
t they
hav
en
't qu
estio
ned
the
witn
esses about a seco
nd m
an b
e-in
g cau
ght b
y th
e crow
d.
Willia
m C
hance, a
ttorn
ey fo
r B
utle
r, has ta
ken a
diffe
rent a
p-
pro
ach en
tirely. S
om
e of h
is qu
es-tio
ns h
ave b
een aim
ed at sh
ow
ing
th
at there w
as dissen
sion
in M
al-co
lm's o
rgan
ization b
etween
those
wh
o w
anted
to stress relig
iou
s ac-tiv
ities a
nd th
ose
who w
ere
in-
tere
sted
in p
olitic
s. He h
as su
g-
geste
d th
at so
me o
f Malc
olm
NE
W Y
OR
K, F
eb. 15 — A
series of d
ete
ctiv
es a
nd te
chnic
al w
it-n
esse
s hav
e te
stified
du
ring
the
past w
eek in
the trial o
f the th
ree m
en accu
sed o
f m
urdering M
al-colm
X. T
he m
ost im
portan
t piece
of ev
iden
ce to em
erge fro
m all th
is testim
on
y is th
e iden
tification
of
a fing
erprin
t of T
almad
ge H
ayer,
also k
no
wn
as Th
om
as Hag
an, o
ne
of th
e d
efe
ndants, o
n a
cru
de
dev
ice set aflame in
the A
udubon
Ballro
om
at the tim
e of th
e shoot-
ing.
Rolan
d B
. Wallace, a 3
8-y
ear-o
ld m
emb
er of th
e Org
anizatio
n
of A
fro-A
merican
Unity
, testified
on F
eb. 1
0 th
at h
e h
ad ju
st re-
ente
red th
e b
allro
om
at th
e re
ar
when sh
ots ra
ng o
ut. T
hen h
is atten
tion w
as attracted to
a burn
-in
g "sm
ok
e bo
mb
." It was n
ear a w
indow
at th
e re
ar o
n th
e rig
ht
side fa
cin
g th
e sta
ge. S
om
eone
po
ured
water o
n it an
d p
ut it o
ut.
Detectiv
e Joh
n J. K
eeley testi-
fied th
at he found the w
et device,
21
X's o
wn fo
llow
ers were in
terested
in d
oin
g a
way
with
their le
ad
er
becau
se of th
ese differen
ces. O
ne o
f the w
itnesses at th
e trial w
as allow
ed b
y th
e judge to
testi-fy
in secret. A
ll spectato
rs, inclu
d-
ing th
e press, w
ere exclu
ded
from
th
e court.
So
far testimo
ny
has b
een tak
-en
from
eight ey
e-witn
esses who
testified in
op
en co
urt, o
ne w
ho
testified
secretly, o
ne p
olicem
an
wh
o arriv
ed at th
e entran
ce to th
e build
ing after th
e shootin
g, an
d a
civil en
gin
eer who co
nstru
cted a
dia
gra
m o
f the a
ud
itoriu
m a
nd
o
ne o
f the b
uild
ing
. Ap
pare
ntly
th
ere are man
y m
ore p
rosecu
tion
witn
esse
s to c
om
e, a
nd th
e d
e-
fense m
ay h
ave a n
um
ber o
f wit-
nesse
s as w
ell. It re
main
s to b
e
seen if th
e q
uestio
ns ra
ised in
th
is artic
le w
ill be a
nsw
ere
d a
s th
e trial pro
gresses.
a man
's sock
stuffed
with
match
es and o
ther m
ate
rial, la
ter in
the
afte
rno
on
of F
eb
. 21
, 19
65
near
where
Walla
ce h
ad se
en it. H
e
turn
ed
it ov
er to
Dete
ctiv
e E
d-
ward
Meag
her w
ho
exam
ined
it fo
r finger p
rints a
nd o
ther e
vi-
dence. M
eagher to
ok th
e witn
ess stand
nex
t an
d sa
id h
e fo
un
d a
usa
ble
fin
gerp
rint o
n a p
iece of u
nrav
el-le
d film
that w
as in
the S
ock
. H
e found n
o u
sable fin
gerp
rints
on th
e shotg
un o
r .45 calib
er auto
-m
atic that h
ave b
een en
tered in
to
evid
ence th
us far in
the trial.
Detectiv
e Robert M
eyer testi-
fied
on
Feb
. 11
that th
e fin
ger
prin
t on th
e film
and o
ne ta
ken
from
the left th
um
b o
f Hay
er were
"one an
d th
e same."
Dr. M
ilton
Help
ern
, the c
ity's
chief m
edical exam
iner, took the stan
d th
e same d
ay an
d d
escribed
th
e results o
f the au
top
sy h
e had
p
erfo
rmed
on
the b
od
y o
f Mal-
Tech
nic
al E
vid
en
ce
22
colm
X. T
he cau
se of d
eath w
as m
ultip
le g
unsh
ot a
nd b
ulle
t w
ounds in
the c
hest, h
eart a
nd
aorta, h
e said. M
alcolm
X w
as hit
by eig
ht sh
otg
un slu
gs an
d n
ine
bullets fro
m .4
5 calib
er and 9
mm
guns. T
he ev
iden
ce indicated
he
was h
it by
the sh
otg
un
slug
s w
hile standing and by bullets from
the o
ther w
eapons w
hile p
rone.
On F
eb. 1
4 D
etective Jam
es A.
Scarin
ge, a b
allistics expert, d
e-scrib
ed a g
reat man
y slu
gs an
d
shells fo
un
d at th
e scene o
f the
assa
ssinatio
n. A
side fro
m th
e
three types mentioned above, three
.32 caliber bullets were found near
the ballroom office door.
On
the m
orn
ing
of F
eb. 9
the
second "se
cre
t" witn
ess o
f the
trial gave his testimony. T
he court w
as cleared o
f spectato
rs and
re-p
orters b
efore h
e app
eared. R
e-p
orted
ly th
is witn
ess is
an F
BI
agen
t who w
as giv
en th
e .45 cali-
ber a
uto
matic
that H
ay
er is a
l-le
ged
to h
av
e u
sed
by
the first
"secret" witn
ess. A
ccording to reliable sources the first "secret" w
itness testified
on
F
eb. 3
that h
e pick
ed u
p th
e .45
at t h
e Au
du
bo
n b
allroo
m an
d
NE
W Y
OR
K, F
eb. 2
2 —
After
20
day
s of testim
on
y, th
e pro
se-cu
tion
finish
ed th
e presen
tation
of its case F
eb. 18 against the three m
en accused of assassinating Mal-
colm
X. Y
esterday
, the d
efense
beg
an w
ith o
pen
ing statem
ents o
n
beh
alf of tw
o o
f the d
efendan
ts, N
orm
an (3
X) B
utler an
d T
hom
as (1
5X
) Joh
nso
n.
William
Chan
ce, Butler's atto
r-ney
, said th
at they
will p
rove th
at B
utler w
as not at th
e Audubon
Ballro
om
on
Feb
. 21
, 19
65
wh
en
Malco
lm X
was g
unned
dow
n.
Bu
tler do
es no
t kn
ow
Talm
adg
e H
ayer (also
know
n as T
hom
as H
agan
), the d
efendan
t who w
as
turn
ed
it ov
er to
the F
BI.
He
iden
tified N
orm
an (3
X) B
utler
and
at least on
e of th
e two
oth
er defendants.
Detectiv
e Ferd
inan
d C
avallaro
, w
ho
was o
rigin
ally in
charg
e of
the in
vestig
ation
, was q
uestio
ned
at le
ng
th a
bo
ut a
list of 1
19
n
ames o
f the p
eop
le qu
estion
ed
concerning the case when he testi-
fied o
n F
eb. 9
. D
urin
g h
is cross-ex
amin
ation
by H
ayer's atto
rney
, Cav
allaro
men
tioned
that R
euben
Fran
cis, w
ho w
as in
dic
ted fo
r shootin
g
Hay
er bu
t later disap
peared
, had
b
een rearrested
on
Feb
. 2,
1966 in
Assista
nt D
istrict A
ttorn
ey
D
ermody's office.
A sp
ok
esman
for th
e district at-
torn
ey's o
ffice said th
at Fran
cis h
ad b
eefi'pick
ed u
p b
y th
e FB
I. H
e had forfeited $10,000 bail; and w
as no
w b
eing
held
on
$2
5,0
00
b
ail. A
spo
kesm
an
for th
e F
BI
den
ied an
y k
now
ledge o
f Fran
cis. T
he n
um
ber o
f spectato
rs at the
trial has d
win
dled
over th
e week
s. S
pectato
rs are still bein
g su
bject-
ed to
the p
ractice of b
eing frisk
ed
each tim
e they
enter th
e court-
room.
sho
t an
d c
au
gh
t at th
e sc
en
e,
Chan
ce asserted. T
he d
efense w
ill sh
ow
that th
e circum
stances o
f th
e killin
g m
ade it im
po
ssible o
r im
pro
bab
le fo
r Bu
tler to
hav
e
participated. Lastly, they w
ill show
that B
utle
r had n
o m
otiv
e fo
r killin
g M
alcolm
X, C
han
ce con-
cluded. 6
. C
harles B
eavers, o
ne o
f Joh
n-
son
's attorn
eys, said
they
wo
uld
sh
ow
that Jo
hnso
n w
as in an
oth
er co
un
ty a
t the tim
e M
alc
olm
X
was sh
ot, an
d th
at Joh
nso
n h
ad
no reaso
n w
hatso
ever to
partici-
pate in
the m
urd
er. T
he presentation of defense wit-
nesses fo
r Hay
er beg
an after th
e
opening statements. T
hree of Hay-
er's relatives — L
eRoi A
. Mosely,
his b
roth
er-in-law
; Mrs. C
athleen
M
osely
, his step
-sister; and H
or-
ace E. H
ayer, h
is bro
ther —
testi-fied
briefly
. Each
of th
em said
th
at Hay
er had
nev
er show
n an
y
interest in
the M
uslim
s or b
lack
nationalism.
Hay
er has m
aintain
ed th
at he
was n
ever a m
emb
er of th
e Mu
s-lim
s. Th
ou
gh
the first tw
o ey
e-w
itnesses to testify, Cary T
homas
and V
ernal T
emple, claim
ed to
k
no
w th
at Hay
er was a M
uslim
, th
eir gen
erally u
nreliab
le testi-m
ony was especially w
eak on this point.
The question of w
hat protection th
e police p
rovid
ed fo
r Malco
lm
X h
as nev
er been
raised at th
e trial, b
ut co
nsid
erable lig
ht w
as sh
ed o
n th
is by th
e testimony o
f P
atrolm
an G
ilbert H
enry
, one o
f th
e last pro
secutio
n w
itnesses, o
n
Feb
. 17. H
enry
, a Neg
ro, an
d h
is partn
er Patro
lman
John C
arroll
were assig
ned
to th
e Audubon
Ballro
om
on
the d
ay M
alcolm
X
was m
urd
ered. A
t almost all p
re-vio
us m
eetings h
eld b
y M
alcolm
X
at the A
udubon, u
nifo
rmed
po-
licemen
were statio
ned
at the en
-tran
ce to th
e build
ing —
usu
ally
about a h
alf dozen
of th
em. B
ut
on th
is occasio
n —
just a w
eek
after Malco
lm's h
om
e had
been
fire-b
om
bed
and
bu
rned
to th
e g
rou
nd
in su
ch a w
ay th
at Mal-
colm
and h
is family
were n
early
trapped
insid
e — th
e two p
olice-
men
were to
ld to
con
ceal them
-selves.
They w
ere stationed in the Rose
Room
— not the m
ain auditorium
where the m
eeting was held. T
hey w
ere instru
cted to
remain
wh
ere th
ey c
ould
not b
e se
en, a
nd if
anyth
ing h
appen
ed to
sum
mon
help
with
a w
alk
ie-ta
lkie
they
had
with
them
. The o
ther w
alkie-
talkie w
as in th
e han
ds o
f po
lice statio
ned
in P
resbyterian
Med
ical C
enter, a complex of buildings on
the o
ther sid
e of a b
road
aven
ue.
When
Patro
lman
Hen
ry h
eard
shots h
e c
alle
d o
n th
e w
alk
ie-
talkie b
ut got no answ
er. He ran
23
into
the m
ain au
dito
rium
, he said
, but saw
no o
ne w
ith a g
un. T
here
were n
o o
ther u
nifo
rmed
po
lice-m
en in
the b
allroom
nor d
id h
e reco
gnize an
y d
etectives, H
enry
testified.
Wh
en ask
ed ab
ou
t wh
at efforts
he h
ad m
ade to
get th
e nam
es of
witn
esse
s, Henry
said
he h
ad
asked
about tw
o p
eople fo
r their
nam
es bu
t had
been
un
able to
get
the n
ame o
f anyone.
Mrs. B
etty S
hab
azz, MalC
olm
X
's wid
ow
, testified earlier th
at day
. She h
ad b
een o
ccupied
with
h
er child
ren d
urin
g th
e sho
otin
g
and
was u
nab
le to id
entify
any
o
f the assassin
s. Sh
e left the w
it-ness stan
d after an
swerin
g a few
ro
utin
e questio
ns. O
bvio
usly
up-
set, she p
aused
near th
e three d
e-fen
dan
ts. Wh
en a g
uard
urg
ed h
er o
n o
ut o
f the co
urtro
om
she said
: "T
hey
killed
my h
usb
and. T
hey
k
illed h
im."
Charle
s Moore
, who sa
id h
e
was self-em
plo
yed
and d
id p
ublic
relations w
ork
, testified o
n F
eb.
18. H
e sa
id h
e w
as sittin
g in
a
booth
at the rig
ht-h
and sid
e of
the au
dito
rium
facing
the stag
e n
ear the rear w
hen
a com
mo
tion
b
egan
. He g
ot u
p an
d w
hen
the
sho
otin
g started
saw a m
an stan
d-
ing w
ith an
auto
matic w
eapon in
h
is han
d p
oin
ted at th
e stage.
Moore said
he th
en w
alked
to
a te
lephone b
ooth
locate
d in
a
lou
ng
e area betw
een th
e entran
ce and the auditorium
itself, to phone in a story to A
BC
Radio for w
hich he w
as a
free-la
nce re
porte
r, W
hile in
the p
hone b
ooth
he saw
a m
an w
ith a .4
5 calib
er auto
ma-
tic in h
is han
d ru
n fro
m th
e au-
dito
rium
thro
ugh th
e lounge an
d
past h
im o
ut th
e door. H
e iden
-tified
the m
an as th
e defen
dan
t H
ayer an
d said
he w
as the sam
e m
an h
e had
seen w
ith a g
un
the au
dito
rium
. M
oo
re testified th
at he
saw
Reu
ben
Fran
cis chasin
g H
ayer,
with
a revolV
er in h
is han
d. F
ran-
cis fired th
ree times, h
itting H
ay-
er w
ith th
e se
co
nd
sho
t w
hen
H
ay
er w
as a
few
feet fro
m th
e
door, M
oore claim
s. Hay
er was
Defe
nse
Op
en
s Case
24
thro
ug
h th
e do
or a
nd
ou
t of h
is lin
e of sig
ht w
hen
he h
eard
the
third
sbot, M
oore said.
Moore join
ed th
e Organ
ization
of A
fro-A
merica
n U
nity
after
Malco
lm X
's dea
th a
nd
was a
p-
poin
ted ch
airm
an
in A
pril 1
965.
He left th
e org
an
izatio
n a
few
mon
ths later, h
e said.
Detective Josep
h R
eich, th
e last o
f the tech
nica
l witn
esses, testi-fied
on
Feb
. 16 a
bou
t the resu
lts of th
e b
allistic
s tests h
e m
ad
e
involvin
g a variety of bu
llets, pel-
lets and
shells fou
nd
at the scen
e. R
eich testified
that th
e fou
r cart-
ridges fo
un
d in
Hayer's p
ock
et w
hen
he w
as a
rrested h
ad
each
b
een in
the ch
am
ber o
f the .4
5
calib
er au
tom
atic th
at th
e pro
se-cu
tion
has p
resented
in ev
iden
ce. T
his can
be d
etermin
ed b
y "ejec-
tor"
an
d "
extra
ctor"
mark
s on
th
e shell m
ade w
hen
it is removed
from
the ch
amb
er. R
eich testified
that h
e had
ex-
amin
ed th
e five .32 caliber b
ullets
recov
ered b
ut co
uld
no
t tell wh
e-th
er they
ha
d b
een fired
from
a
single g
un
or a
s man
y a
s five d
if-
NE
W
YO
RK
, March
1 —
Th
e pro
secutio
n's case ag
ainst tw
o o
f th
e three m
en accu
sed o
f assassin-
atin
g M
alc
olm
X w
as se
vere
ly
shak
en
Feb
. 28
wh
en
Talm
ad
ge
Hayer (a
lso k
now
n a
s Thom
as
Hagan), th
e o
nly
defe
ndant to
hav
e been
caught at th
e scene o
f th
e c
rime, c
onfe
ssed. H
ayer n
ot
on
ly e
xo
nera
ted
Norm
an
(3X
) B
utle
r and T
hom
as (1
5X
) John-
son, b
ut h
e d
esc
ribed h
ow
the
crime w
as com
mitted
and in
doin
g
so threw
grave dou
bt on
the testi-
mon
y of m
ost o
f the p
rosecu
tion
's eyew
itnesses. V
incen
t Derm
ody, th
e assistant
distric
t atto
rney in
charg
e o
f the
case, tried to
show
that H
ayer w
as
ferent gu
ns. T
hree of th
ese bu
llets w
ere fo
un
d in
the a
rea o
f the
loun
ge. O
ne o
f the .3
2 ca
liber b
ullets
wa
s recov
ered fro
m H
ay
er's leg
March
8, 1965 wh
en h
e was op
er-ated
on. N
o one h
as testified as to
wh
y the b
ullet w
as left in H
ayer's leg for m
ore than
two w
eeks.
Th
e last of these b
ullets w
as re-m
ov
ed fro
m th
e liver o
f Willia
m
Harris on
Feb
. 22, 1965. Accord
-in
g to a police in
terview w
ith h
im
Feb
. 22, 1
965, rea
d a
t the tria
l, H
arris was sh
ot in
the rig
ht sid
e fro
m b
ehin
d w
hen
he w
as runnin
g
ou
t of th
e b
allro
om
. He to
ld a
po
licem
an
ou
tside th
at h
e h
ad
been
shot an
d h
e was tak
en to
a hosp
ital. T
he re
port id
entifie
d
Harris as 5
1 y
ears old
and a m
em-
ber o
f th
e Organ
ization of
Afro
-A
merican
Unity
.
Accord
ing to
anoth
er re
port
read at th
e trial, William
Park
er, 36, w
ho w
as seated
in th
e th
ird
row
on th
e le
ft side o
f the a
udi-
toriu
m, w
as h
it in th
e fo
ot b
y a
pellet, p
resum
ably
from
a shotgu
n,
when th
e shootin
g started.
lyin
g to
save th
e o
ther tw
o d
e-
fendan
ts. H
ayer said h
e had
com
e forw
ard
to testify
as a witn
ess for th
e de-
fense an
d to
con
fess beca
use h
e w
an
ted th
e truth
to b
e kn
ow
n:
that B
utler a
nd
Joh
nso
n d
id n
ot
ha
ve a
ny
thin
g to
do
with
the
crime. H
e had
not com
e forward
soon
er becau
se he d
idn
't wan
t to co
nfess a
nd
had
waited
un
til it w
as clea
r he n
eeded
to in
ord
er to
prev
ent th
e con
victio
n o
f the
two in
nocen
t men
. H
ayer m
ain
tain
ed th
at h
e was
not an
d h
ad n
ever been
a mem
ber
of Elijah
Mu
ham
mad
's followers—
no
r were h
is acco
mp
lices, to h
is k
now
ledge. N
one of th
em h
ad an
y
perso
nal m
otiv
e for k
illing M
al-
colm. X
, bu
t they h
ad b
een h
ired
to carry out th
e assassination
. He
refused
to say how
mu
ch m
oney h
e h
ad
,been
offered
. He sa
id th
at
man
an
wh
o h
ired h
im w
as n
ot
a Mu
slim eith
er. H
ayer refu
sed to
iden
tify h
is accom
plices or th
e one w
ho h
ired
them
. He d
id d
rop on
e hin
t abou
t w
ho th
e latter was. In
respon
se to a q
uestion
by D
ermod
y abou
t the
iden
tity o
f the m
an
wh
o o
ffered
him
mon
ey, h
e said
it pro
bab
ly
wou
ld h
ave been
revealed if W
il-liam
s had
been
successfu
l in "
con-
tinu
ing h
is interro
gatio
n."
Wil-
liam
s is on
e of B
utler's la
wy
ers w
ho h
as cro
ss-exam
ined
on
ly
a few
of th
e pro
secutio
n w
itnesses
Derrrio
dy
asked
no
qu
estion
s to try
to
find o
ut fro
m w
hom
William
s could
have g
otte
n th
is info
rma-
tion.
Hay
er's descrip
tion
of h
ow
the
assassinatio
n to
ok p
lace is much
m
ore; credib
le than
the story th
e p
roseption
said it w
ould
prove. It
contrad
icts the p
rosecution
's ver-sio
n in
ways fro
m w
hich
neith
er H
ayer, nor th
e oth
er defen
dan
ts b
enefit, an
d in
ways w
hich
mak
e m
uch
more sen
se than
the p
rose-cu
tion's version
. Wh
en D
ermod
y ask
ed H
ayer if the w
itnesses told
th
e truth
abou
t him
, he resp
ond
ed
at one p
oint: "
It's qu
ite imp
ossible
for th
e crime to
ha
ve b
een co
m-
mitted
the w
ay they said
it had
."
(See th
e article o
n th
e case in
th
e Feb
. 14 M
ilitan
t for so
me o
f th
e reasons th
e prosecu
tion's story
is du
biou
s.) H
ayer sa
id th
at o
nly
on
e man
, n
ot tw
o, h
ad
been
involv
ed in
a
diversion
just b
efore the sh
ooting,
and
that it h
ad n
ot been
him
self, as th
e prosecu
tion alleged
. He an
d
an
oth
er acco
mp
lice ha
d ta
ken
sea
ts togeth
er in th
e fron
t row
an
the left sid
e of the au
ditoriu
m.
A m
an
with
a sh
otg
un
sat in
the
fou
rth ro
w. H
ayer a
dm
itted h
e h
ad com
e armed
with
a .45 caliber
autom
atic and
had
shot ab
out fou
r tim
es at th
e pro
ne b
od
y o
f Mal-
colm
X, a
fter Malco
lm h
ad
been
25 felled
by
the sh
otg
un
bla
st. His
comp
anion
had
fired at M
alcolm
With
a Lu
ger. H
ay
er testified h
e kn
ew th
e m
an
with
the sh
otg
un
for
about on
e yea
r at th
e time th
ey p
ar
ticipated
in th
e assassination
Feb
.' 21, 1
965. H
e said
the m
an
was"
d
ark
skin
ned
, very
hu
sky, a
nd
h
ad
a b
eard
. Jo
hn
son
, wh
o h
as'
been
accused
of firing th
e shotgu
n,
has a very ligh
t comp
lexion. }lay-
er exp
lain
ed h
e was W
illing to
d
escribe th
e man
becau
se he h
ad
already b
een d
escribed
by an
earl-ier d
efense w
itness.
Ern
est Green
e, a 2
1-y
ear-o
ld
former M
uslim
, had
app
eared as
Bu
tler's eyew
itness o
n F
eb. 2
4,
an
d testified
to seein
g a
stou
t, d
ark, b
earded
man
shoot M
alcolm
X w
ith a sh
otgun
. D
ermod
y recalled th
e testimon
y of th
e first "secret w
itness"
from
wh
ose testim
on
y rep
orters h
ad
b
een b
arred
. Th
e secret witn
ess h
ad testified
that B
utler h
ad b
een
involv
ed
in a
scu
ffle n
ear th
e
stairw
ay th
at lea
ds fro
m th
e en-
tran
ce of th
e ballro
om
dow
n to
th
e entran
ce of the b
uild
ing. T
he
witn
ess claimed
to have k
nock
ed
Bu
tler dow
n th
e stairs a
nd
that
Hayer h
ad ju
mp
ed over B
utler on
th
e way ou
t. H
ayer d
enied
seeing a
ny S
etif-flin
g near th
e stairs or seeing an
y- o
ne k
no
cked
do
wn
the sta
irs. "I
wa
s sho
t. I did
n't d
o a
ny
jum
p-
ing,", h
e said
. Wh
en a
sked
ab
ou
t it again
, he said
: "I cou
ldn
't jum
p
over anyb
ody."
Hayer w
as shot in
in
the leg
. In
his cross-exam
ination
of Hay-
er, Derm
od
y h
arp
ed o
n th
e fact
that H
ayer had
lied w
hen
he tes-
tified in
his o
wn
beh
alf o
n F
eb.'
23 and
den
ied h
aving an
y part in
r th
e crime. H
e also
tried to
show
th
at Hayer w
as a Mu
slim. T
his is
an
imp
orta
nt p
oin
t in th
e case,
for if Hayer is n
ot a Mu
slim th
ere is every reason
to believe h
e told
the tru
th in
his co
nfessio
n, a
nd
th
at th
e M
uslim
s were n
ot in
-volved
in th
e assassination
. T
he q
uestion
raised b
y Hayer's
con
fession
is wh
o S
aid
for th
e
Talm
ad
ge H
ayer C
on
fesse
s
26
mu
rder o
f Malc
olm
X? W
hile
it is g
enera
lly a
ssum
ed th
at E
lijah
Muham
mad
's org
anizatio
n w
anted
M
alc
olm
out o
f the w
ay it sh
ould
be b
orn
e in
min
d th
at th
ose
who
pro
fited th
e most fro
m h
is revolu
-tio
nary
voic
e b
ein
g sile
nced w
as
the ru
ling class o
f this co
untry
. D
erm
ody h
as n
ot p
roved so
far
that H
ayer w
as a
Muslim
. Cary
T
hom
as, th
e firs
t eyew
itness,
claimed
to k
now
that H
ayer w
as a m
em
ber o
f the Je
rsey C
ity m
os-
que, th
ough h
e testified h
e'd n
ever
been
to th
at mosq
ue. V
ernal T
em-
ple, th
e second ey
ewitn
ess, claimed
to
have se
en H
ayer fu
nctio
n a
s a
guard
in th
e H
arle
m m
osq
ue a
nd
strike so
meone, w
ho w
as c
ausin
g
a d
isturb
ance, a
kara
te b
low
on
that o
ccasio
n. N
ow
, Derm
ody is
tryin
g to
show
that H
ayer w
as a
m
emb
er of th
e New
ark m
osq
ue.
Derm
ody h
as p
roduced tw
o
ph
oto
gra
ph
s of g
rou
ps in
kara
te
garb
, appare
ntly
inclu
din
g H
ayer.
Fra
nk
lin (X
) Du
ran
t testifie
d
Feb
. 24
that h
e, a
mem
ber o
f
NE
W Y
OR
K, M
arch 8 — T
esti-m
ony in
the trial o
f the th
ree men
accu
sed o
f assassinatin
g M
alcolm
X
ended
March
4. O
n M
arch 7
th
e defen
se attorn
eys su
mm
ed u
p
the case fo
r each o
f their clien
ts. A
ssistant District A
ttorney Vincent
Derm
ody to
ok all o
f today
's court
session
to arg
ue th
e case of th
e pro
secutio
n. A
ll that rem
ains b
e-fo
re the ju
ry is sen
t ou
t tom
orro
w
is Judge C
harles M
arks' ch
arge
to th
e jury
.
At th
e open
ing o
f the p
rosecu
-tio
n's case o
n Jan
. 21 D
ermody
sum
marized
what h
e expected
to
pro
ve in
the trial. H
e has stu
ck
to th
at sto
ry th
rough th
ick a
nd
thin
— d
espite th
e fact that o
ne
Mosq
ue 2
5 in
New
ark
, had ta
ken
the p
ho
tos a
t a b
azaar h
eld
in th
e
mosq
ue d
urin
g th
e sprin
g o
f 1963.
He id
en
tified
Hay
er in
the p
ho
tos
and said
Hay
er intro
duced
him
self as T
alm
adge, b
ut w
ent o
n to
testi-
fy th
at H
ayer w
as n
ot a
mem
ber
of th
e m
osq
ue. H
e sa
id m
ost o
f th
e o
thers in
the p
hoto
s were
not
Muslim
s to h
is know
ledge. D
uran
t sa
id h
e n
ever sa
w H
ayer in
the
mo
squ
e on
any
occasio
n after th
at. R
eporte
dly
, the k
ara
te e
xhib
ition
was p
ut o
n b
y a
kara
te sc
hool in
N
ew
ark
, bu
t this
was n
ev
er
bro
ug
ht o
ut in
the te
stimo
ny
. A
num
ber o
f oth
er w
itnesse
s have te
stified fo
r Butle
r inclu
d-
ing: G
loria
(11X
) Wills
and
Ju
anita
(8X
) Gib
bs w
ho
said
th
ey sp
oke to
Butle
r at h
is hom
e
on th
e te
lephone ju
st a
fter th
e
assa
ssinatio
n, b
etw
een 3
:05 a
nd
3:3
0 p
.m. D
r. Kenneth
Seslo
we
testifie
d to
treatin
g B
utle
r for a
n
infe
ctio
n o
f the v
ein
s in h
is right
leg o
n th
e m
orn
ing o
f the a
ssas-
sinatio
n.
of the d
efend
ants m
ade a su
rprise
con
fession
bu
t gave a
very
dif-
ferent accou
nt of w
hat h
app
ened
. D
ermod
y h
as tried
to p
rove th
e follow
ing:
On
Feb
. 21, 1965 at abou
t 3 p.m
. M
alcolm X
started to ad
dress an
au
dien
ce of abou
t 200 to 400 peo-
ple in
the A
ud
ub
on B
allroom. T
he
three d
efend
ants, all active m
em-
bers o
f the B
lack
Mu
slims (N
a-
tion
of Isla
m), w
ere in th
e au
-d
ience. T
alm
ad
ge H
ay
er, also
k
no
wn
as T
ho
ma
s Ha
ga
n, a
nd
N
orm
an
(3X
) Bu
tler were sea
ted
togeth
er —
Hayer w
ith a
.45
caliber au
tomatic an
d B
utler w
ith
a Germ
an L
uger. T
hey w
ere seat-ed
in a
mid
dle ro
w o
n th
e left fa
cing th
e stage. T
hom
as (1
5X
) Joh
nso
n w
as sea
ted a
lon
e on
the
left sid
e n
ea
r th
e fr
on
t with
a
saw
ed o
ff shotg
un
, Derm
od
y a
s-serted
. B
y a
prea
rran
ged
pla
n, H
ay
er an
d B
utler created
a distu
rban
ce. H
ayer stood u
p an
d sh
outed
abou
t B
utler try
ing to
pick
his p
ock
et. A
t this p
oint Joh
nson
app
roached
th
e stage a
nd
fired p
oin
t bla
nk
at M
alcolm X
. Hayer an
d B
utler
rush
ed to th
e stage and
fired b
ul-
lets into
the p
ron
e bo
dy
of M
al-
colm X
, Derm
ody claim
ed.
Joh
nso
n d
rop
ped
the sh
otg
un
an
d slip
ped
aw
ay. H
ayer a
nd
B
utler w
ere pu
rsued
ou
t of th
e en
tran
ce at th
e rear o
f the a
ud
i-toriu
m, d
own
a flight of stairs an
d
on
to th
e street. Hayer w
as sh
ot
in h
is leg
on
the w
ay o
ut a
nd
cau
ght on
the street. B
utler m
an-
aged to escap
e, Derm
ody said
.
Th
e evid
ence
that H
ayer w
as one of the assassins is overw
helm-
ing. N
ot o
nly
wa
s he sh
ot a
nd
ca
ugh
t at th
e scene o
f the a
ssas-
sinatio
n a
nd
iden
tified b
y m
an
y,
bu
t before th
e end
of the d
efense
presen
tation h
e with
drew
his claim
o
f inn
ocen
ce an
d to
ok
the sta
nd
to con
fess. E
ven w
ithou
t his con
fession, th
e evid
ence again
st him
was stron
g. T
he fact th
at police testified
that
he h
ad
a clip
of .4
5 ca
liber b
ul-
lets in h
is pock
et wh
en h
e was
arrested, an
d th
at his th
um
b p
rint
wa
s fou
nd
on
a cru
de sm
ok
e de-
vice set
off a
t the r
ea
r o
f the
Au
du
bon
Ballroom
at the tim
e of th
e shootin
g wou
ld h
ave disp
elled
any lin
gering d
oub
ts in th
e min
ds
of the ju
rors. T
he p
rosecu
tion
presen
ted 1
0
ey
ew
itnesse
s alto
geth
er w
ho
. cla
imed
to h
ave seen
at lea
st on
e of th
e defen
dan
ts at th
e scene o
f th
e crime. T
hree o
f them
iden
ti-fied
on
ly H
ayer, a
nd
five o
thers
iden
tified H
ayer and
at least one
other d
efend
ant. A
ltogether, fou
r id
entified
Jo
hn
son
, an
d tw
o o
f th
em claim
ed to see a sh
otgun
in
his h
an
d. S
ix id
entified
Bu
tler; an
d th
ree of th
em sa
id h
e had
a p
istol. N
o m
ateria
l evid
ence w
as p
re-sen
ted lin
kin
g Bu
tler or John
son
27
to the crim
e or ev
en d
emonstrat-
ing that th
ey w
ere presen
t at th
e A
ud
ub
on
Ballro
om
on
Feb
. 21,
1965 w
hen
Malco
lm X
was g
un
-n
ed d
ow
n. T
he ev
iden
ce again
st th
em w
as th
e testimon
y o
f the
eyewitn
esses. B
oth
Bu
tler an
d J
oh
nso
n w
ere an
d are active M
uslim
s wh
o were
well k
now
n to
a n
um
ber o
f Mal-
colm
X's fo
llow
ers an
d g
ua
rds.
Malco
lm X
had
charg
ed th
at fo
l-low
ers of Elijah
Mu
ham
mad
had
tried
to attack h
im several tim
es. H
is follo
wers w
ere watch
ing fo
r an
d w
ou
ld m
ost lik
ely h
ave n
o-
ticed M
uslim
s like B
utler a
nd
Joh
nson
. On
th
e face of it,
it is u
nlik
ely that B
utler an
d Joh
nson
w
ould
have en
tered th
e ballroom
w
here M
alco
lm X
was h
old
ing a
m
eeting
an
d n
ot h
av
e been
no
-ticed
, an
d ey
ewitn
ess testimon
y
against th
em w
ou
ld h
ave to
be
solid
an
d relia
ble to
be b
elieved
. C
ary T
hom
as, th
e fir
st eye-
witn
ess, claim
ed to
see all th
ree p
articip
atin
g in
the a
ssassin
atio
n
or h
old
ing
a g
un
, bu
t the in
con
-sista
ncies in
his sto
ry
were
so
great as to
call his testim
ony in
to q
uestion
. His testim
ony b
efore the
gra
nd
jury
last M
arch
was v
ery
differen
t from
the sto
ry h
e told
in
cou
rt. T
hou
gh h
e claimed
to have b
een
a fo
llow
er of E
lijah
Mu
ham
mad
a
nd
then
of M
alco
lm X
, by
his
own
testimon
y, Th
omas d
idn
't be-
have lik
e a Mu
slim or u
nd
erstand
a
ny
thin
g a
bo
ut w
ha
t Ma
lcolm
X
stood
for. H
e was p
laced
in B
el-levu
e Hosp
ital for psych
iatric ex-am
ination
in 1963, scream
ing, "I
did
not k
ill Jesu
s Ch
rist." T
he
evaluation
was p
sychon
eurosis.
Th
om
as w
as p
icked
up
by th
e p
olice for qu
estionin
g on M
arch 2,
1965 and
held
in jail as a m
aterial w
itness fro
m th
en o
n. W
hile h
e w
as in
civic ja
il he w
as ch
arg
ed
with
bu
rnin
g a
mattress a
nd
in-
dicted
for a
rson
. He w
as tra
ns-
ferred from
civic jail to a regular p
rison an
d h
as been
held
prison
er o
n th
is cha
rge sin
ce then
. C
harles B
lack
well, th
e nin
th
eyew
itness, w
as th
e on
ly o
ther
Su
mm
ary
of th
e T
estim
on
y
28
on
e to
iden
tify a
ll thre
e d
efe
n-
dants. H
e to
o to
ld a
com
ple
tely
d
iffere
nt sto
ry to
the g
ran
d ju
ry,
bu
t he te
stified
that
he lied
be-
fore
the g
rand ju
ry ra
ther th
an
in th
e court. H
is courtro
om
story
co
rrespo
nd
ed w
ith w
hat th
e pro
se-cu
tion
said it w
ou
ld p
rov
e, as did
C
ary T
hom
as' courtro
om
versio
n.
Black
well w
as the g
uard
at the
front o
f the stag
e on th
e left side,
where
the sh
ootin
g to
ok p
lace.
Acco
rdin
g to
his co
urtro
om
testi-m
on
y, B
utle
r an
d H
ay
er ra
n b
y
him
to th
e stage w
here th
ey sh
ot
Malc
olm
X. A
fter th
ey
turn
ed
aro
und an
d b
egan
runnin
g o
ut, h
e "g
ave ch
ase." It was at th
is poin
t, in
credib
ly en
ough, th
at he n
oticed
a m
an "
sta
ndin
g fo
ur o
r five
row
s back
" wh
o lo
ok
ed "startled
" or "scared
." Black
well id
entified
th
is man
as Joh
nso
n, b
ut h
e said
he sa
w n
o g
un
in h
is han
d. H
e
claimed
to h
ave seen
Joh
nso
n th
en
run in
to th
e ladies' lo
unge.
Th
e tw
o o
ther w
itnesse
s wh
o
identifie
d Jo
hnso
n a
re V
ern
al
Tem
ple
, the se
cond e
yew
itness,
and F
red W
illiam
s, the e
ighth
. T
emple claim
ed to
hav
e recognized
Jo
hn
son
, wh
om
he k
new
on
ly as
"15
X," sittin
g a
t the b
ack
of th
e
audito
rium
when h
e e
nte
red. H
e
said
the o
nly
time h
e h
ad
ev
er
seen Jo
hnso
n b
efo
re th
at w
as a
t a M
uslim
con
ven
tion
in C
hicag
o
in 1
96
2. H
e had
a no
torio
usly
bad
m
em
ory
ab
ou
t ev
ery
thin
g e
lse
connecte
d w
ith th
at c
onventio
n,
an
d c
on
trad
icte
d h
imse
lf a n
um
-b
er of tim
es. W
illiams, th
e eighth
eyew
itness,
said
he sa
w Jo
hnso
n h
old
ing a
sh
otg
un
. He a
lso c
laim
ed
to re
c-
ogniz
e B
utle
r as o
ne o
f the tw
o
men
inv
olv
ed
in a
scu
ffle w
hic
h
preceed
ed th
e shootin
g an
d serv
ed
as a div
ersion. H
e saw n
o g
un in
B
utler's h
and
, he said
. W
illiams w
as a friend o
f Black
-w
ell's at the tim
e and d
rove B
lack-
well to
the A
udubon B
allro
om
th
at d
ay
. His m
em
ory
was v
ery
fo
ggy ab
out n
early ev
eryth
ing b
ut
the ev
ents in
the A
udubon.
Th
e fifth w
itness, Jasp
er Dav
is, id
entified
on
ly B
utler. H
e said th
at
Butler sat d
ow
n n
ext to
him
and
they
struck
up
a c
on
versa
tion
. T
hen
ano
ther m
an w
alked
do
wn
th
e aisle and B
utler called
to h
im.
Th
at man
sat nex
t to B
utler. T
he
distu
rbance th
at p
receeded th
e
shootin
g w
as created b
y th
ese two
men, D
avis te
stified, th
ough h
e
was n
ot su
re wh
ich o
ne o
f them
did
the sh
outin
g. D
avis d
idn't n
o-
tice e
ither o
f them
fire a
gu
n,
he said
. D
av
is pic
ked
Bu
tler o
ut o
f a
police lin
e-up o
f eight m
en. N
one
of th
e oth
ers in th
e line-u
p fitted
th
e descrip
tion
he h
ad g
iven
the
police o
f the m
an in
volv
ed, D
avis
testified —
tho
ug
h th
e descrip
tion
he g
ave w
as very
gen
eral. Much
of
the id
entific
atio
n o
f Butle
r cen-
tered aro
und a g
ray tw
eed co
at he
was a
llegely
wearin
g. O
nly
one
oth
er m
an-
in th
e lin
e-u
p w
ore
a g
ray c
oat, sa
id D
avis, a
nd it
was n
ot sim
ilar to th
e on
e Bu
tler w
as wearin
g.
Ed
ward
DiP
ina, th
e th
ird e
ye-
witn
ess, said h
e saw b
oth
Bu
tler an
d H
ayer sh
oo
t at the stag
e from
w
here th
ey sto
od
up
in th
e third
ro
w in
the a
ud
ien
ce, a
nd
then
tu
rn a
rou
nd
an
d ru
n o
ut. C
ross-
exam
inatio
n p
rov
ed D
iPin
a to b
e a v
ery co
nfu
sed —
if not sen
ile -o
ld m
an
. Fo
r ex
am
ple
, DiP
ina
identifie
d o
ne o
f the d
efe
nse
at-
torn
eys as th
e detectiv
e who d
rove
him
to B
ellevu
e Hosp
ital to id
en-
tify H
ayer.
Th
e seven
th ey
ewitn
ess, Ro
n-
ald T
imb
erlake, testified
in secret
— rep
orters an
d sp
ectators w
ere b
arre
d fro
m th
e c
ou
rtroo
m. B
ut
mu
ch o
f his testim
on
y h
as since
been m
ade k
now
n. T
he se
cre
t w
itness to
ld th
is story
: He claim
-ed
to h
ave k
no
cked
Bu
tler do
wn
th
e sta
irs that le
ad fro
m th
e a
u-
dito
rium
to th
e e
ntra
nce o
f the
% b
uild
ing
. Th
e c
row
d th
en
held
and p
um
mele
d B
utle
r but h
e
managed to
get a
way. T
he w
it-n
ess claimed
that H
ayer, w
ho
had
b
een sh
ot in
the leg
by
this tim
e, ju
mp
ed
ov
er B
utle
r on
his w
ay
dow
n th
e stairs. T
he secret w
itness also
testified
that h
e retrieved
a .45
caliber au
-
tom
atic
on th
e sta
irs whic
h h
e
turn
ed o
ver to
an F
BI ag
ent. T
hat
agen
t also testified
secretly. Th
is is th
e .4
5 th
at h
as b
een
p
laced
in ev
iden
ce, an
d is a
lleged
ly th
e w
eapon th
at Hay
er used
. T
he reaso
n fo
r this d
ubio
us tale
about k
nock
ing B
utler d
ow
n th
e sta
irs becam
e c
lear w
hen th
e
pro
secutio
n in
troduced
in ev
iden
ce a p
ho
to o
f Bu
tler ta
ken
on
Feb
. 26, 1
965, so
on a
fter h
e w
as a
r-rested
. It show
ed th
at Butler h
ad
a sw
olle
n a
nk
le a
nd
bo
th le
gs
were d
iscolo
red.
Th
is ph
oto
was in
trod
uced
du
r-in
g th
e cross-ex
amin
ation
of o
ne
of B
utler's d
efense w
itnesses, D
r. K
enn
eth S
eslow
e of Jaco
bi H
osp
i-tal. D
r. Seslo
we testified
that B
ut-
ler had
been
treated at th
e hosp
i-tal b
y an
oth
er do
ctor o
n Jan
. 22
, 1
96
5 fo
r infected
wo
un
ds o
f bo
th
shin
s. He h
imse
lf had tre
ate
d
Bu
tler on
the m
orn
ing o
f Feb
. 21,
19
65
, the d
ay o
f the assassin
ation
. B
utler co
mplain
ed o
f pain
in th
e rig
ht leg
, and
the illn
ess was d
iag-
nosed
as superficial th
rom
bophlo
-b
itis. Bu
tler's leg w
as ban
dag
ed;
he w
as giv
en o
ral med
ication
; and
he w
as to
ld to
stay o
ff his fe
et,
keep h
is leg e
levate
d a
nd a
pply
hot so
aks to
it. B
utler also
had
three w
itnesses
• wh
o te
stified
he w
as a
t ho
me a
t th
e tim
e o
f or sh
ortly
afte
r the
sho
otin
g. B
utle
r's wife
Th
ere
sa
said
he re
turn
ed
ho
me a
bo
ut
12:5
5 p
.m. a
nd n
ever le
ft the
ho
use
that d
ay
. Tw
o siste
rs of
Mo
squ
e No
. 7, to
wh
ich th
e Bu
t-le
rs belo
ng
, testifie
d th
ey
tele
-p
ho
ned
an
d sp
ok
e w
ith B
utle
r b
etw
een
3:0
5 a
nd
3:3
0 p
.m.
shortly
after hearin
g o
f the sh
oot-
ing
on
the rad
io.
Joh
nso
n's w
ife testified h
e was
ho
me a
ll day
on
Feb
. 21
, 19
65
. O
ne o
f his
neigh
bors, E
dw
ard
Lo
ng
, a Mu
slim, testified
he v
is-ited
Joh
nso
n at h
is ho
me b
etween
3
:30
and
4:3
0 th
at day
. Malco
lm
X is sa
id to
have b
een sh
ot a
t ab
ou
t 3:0
5 o
r 3:1
0.
Tw
o ey
ewitn
esses testified fo
r th
e defen
se. Ern
est Green
e, 21, a
form
er M
uslin
, testifie
d h
e sa
w
29
the m
an w
ho sh
ot M
alc
olm
X
w
ith a sh
otg
un an
d d
escribed
him
as v
ery sto
ut, v
ery d
ark an
d w
ear-in
g a heav
y b
eard. H
e said it w
as not Jo
hnso
n, w
ho is v
ery
light-sk
inned
and w
ore n
o b
eard.
Th
e m
ost sp
ecta
cu
lar e
yew
it-n
ess w
as T
ah
nad
ge H
ay
er, w
ho
co
nfessed
in o
rder to
testify th
at B
utler an
d Jo
hn
son
had
no
thin
g to
do w
ith th
e crime. H
e main
tained
th
at he an
d h
is accom
plices w
ere n
ot M
uslim
s bu
t were h
ired k
ill-ers. H
ayer's co
nfessio
n w
as qu
ite co
nv
incin
g, b
ut th
e pro
secutio
n re-
fused
to b
eieve h
im.
On
e o
f the m
ost c
on
vin
cin
g
thin
gs ab
ou
t Hay
er's con
fession
is th
at his acco
unt o
f how
the crim
e w
as c
om
mitte
d is p
lau
sible
an
d
co
rresp
on
ds to
ey
ew
itness a
c-
co
un
ts of th
e e
ven
ts that w
ere
nev
er bro
ught o
ut in
the trial.
For e
xam
ple
, Hayer te
stified
that h
e a
nd h
is accom
plic
e
wh
o both
had p
istols sa
t in th
e first
row
; the m
an w
ith th
e sh
otg
un
sat in
the fo
urth
row
; a
nd
the
acco
mp
lice wh
o crea
ted th
e di-
version
by stan
din
g
an
d y
elling
sat so
mew
here b
ehin
d th
e ma
n
with
the sh
otgun
. A
cord
ing
to a
n ey
ewitn
ess ac-
cou
nt in
the B
altim
ore A
fro-
Am
erican
of F
eb. 2
7, 1
965 tw
o
or three m
en w
ith gu
ns rose from
th
e fir
st row
wh
ile th
ese
that
cre
ate
d th
e d
isturb
an
ce to
ok
no
part in
the sh
ootin
g.
It is unlik
ely
th
at th
e sam
e m
en w
ho w
ere
goin
g
to sh
oo
t M
alc
olm
X first
stood
up
an
d
yelled
to ca
ll atten
tion
to them
-selves.
Derm
ody still in
sists that H
ayer
is a Muslim
tryin
g to
protect h
is alleged
accomp
lices. Bu
t Derm
ody
has n
ot come close to p
roving th
at H
ayer is a Mu
slim. V
ernal T
emp
le cla
imed
to h
av
e seen H
ay
er in
Mosq
ue N
o. 7 in H
arlem on
ce in
the su
mm
er of 1964 fun
ctionin
g as a gu
ard an
d w
earing a w
hite arm
-b
an
d w
ith red
letters "M
uh
am
-m
ad
." B
ut h
e also
testified th
at
he stop
ped
attend
ing m
eetings in
th
e mosq
ue after M
alcolm X
was
susp
end
ed —
wh
ich w
as in
late
30 N
ovem
ber 1
963. B
esides, acco
rd-
ing to
testimony at th
e trial arm-
ban
ds are n
ever w
orn
in th
e mos-
qu
e b
ut w
ere
wo
rn a
t a c
on
ven
-tio
n in
Chicag
o.
It is hard
to b
elie
ve th
at th
e
pro
secutio
n w
ou
ld b
e redu
ced to
su
ch flim
sy testim
on
y as th
e ma-
jor e
vid
ence o
f Hayer's b
ein
g a
M
uslim
if he really
were.
NE
W Y
OR
K —
On
March
11
, after 2
0 h
ours o
f delib
eration, th
e ju
ry in
the M
alc
olm
X m
urd
er
trial re
turn
ed a
verd
ict o
f guilty
ag
ainst all th
ree defen
dan
ts: Tal-
madge H
ayer (a
lso k
now
n a
s T
hom
as H
agan), N
orm
an (3
X)
Butler an
d T
hom
as (15X
) John-
son. S
enten
cing
will tak
e place o
n
Ap
ril 14
. T
he ju
ry w
as p
rese
nte
d w
ith
two
accou
nts o
f the assassin
ation
. A
ssistant D
istrict Atto
rney
Der-
mody c
laim
ed th
at th
e th
ree d
e-
fendants, a
ll activ
e m
em
bers o
f th
e Natio
n o
f Islam, d
id th
e shoot-
ing
acco
rdin
g to
a p
rearra
ng
ed
plan
: Bu
tler and
Hay
er created a
div
ersion in
a mid
dle ro
w o
f the
audito
rium
, whereu
pon Jo
hnso
n
ran to
the sta
ge a
nd sh
ot M
al-
colm
X w
ith a
saw
ed-o
ff shot-
gu
n. T
hen
Hay
er a
nd
Bu
tler ra
n
to th
e stage an
d fired
pisto
l shots
into
the p
rone b
ody.
The N
ew Y
ork
police d
ecided
th
at the M
uslim
s had
com
mitted
th
e c
rime rig
ht a
fter th
e a
ssas-
sinatio
n. H
ay
er w
as sh
ot a
nd
cau
ght b
y th
e crow
d at th
e scene
of th
e assassinatio
n, th
e Audubon
Ballroom
. T
he p
olice m
ade statem
ents to
th
e press th
at Hay
er was a M
us-
lim a
nd th
ey so
ught h
is accom
-6 p
lices a
mo
ng
the M
uslim
s. Th
e
polic
e a
nd d
istrict a
ttorn
ey's o
f-fice stu
ck to
that sto
ry an
d av
oid
ed
look
ing elsew
here fo
r the k
illers. T
he o
ther v
ersion o
f the assas-
sinatio
n w
as giv
en b
y H
ayer w
hen
h
e to
ok
the sta
nd
for a
seco
nd
tim
e and co
nfessed
to b
eing o
ne
In m
y o
pin
ion
the w
eig
ht o
f ev
iden
ce poin
ts to th
e conclu
sion
that Jo
hn
son
and
Bu
tler had
no
th-
ing to
do w
ith th
e a
ssassin
atio
n
and w
ere not ev
en at th
e Audubon
Ballro
om
that d
ay. It w
ould
be a
mo
nstro
us m
iscarriage o
f justice
if they
are fou
nd
"gu
ilty b
eyo
nd
a reaso
nab
le do
ub
t."
of th
e assassins. H
e said
he
had
b
een
hire
d to
do
the k
illing
, as
had
his th
ree accom
plices, b
ut th
at n
on
e of th
e gu
nm
en n
or th
e man
w
ho
hire
d th
em
was a
Mu
slim.
Butle
r and Jo
hnso
n w
ere
in n
o
way
involv
ed, h
e said. H
ayer's ac-
co
un
t or w
hat h
ap
pen
ed
in th
e
ballro
om
was m
uch
more co
nvin
c-in
g th
an D
ermody's, an
d sq
uared
w
ith e
yew
itness a
ccounts in
the
pre
ss at th
e tim
e: H
ay
er a
nd
an
accom
plic
e sa
t in th
e first ro
w
with
pisto
ls. Anoth
er man
sat in
the fo
urth
row
with
a sawed
-off
shotg
un. A
fourth
man
sat furth
er back
and created
the d
isturb
ance.
but h
e w
as n
ot in
volv
ed in
the
shootin
g.
Th
e o
utc
om
e o
f the tria
l de-
pen
ded
on w
hich
of th
ese two sto
-ries th
e jury
tho
ug
ht w
as essen
-tia
lly co
rrect. Derm
od
y stu
ck to
th
is issue —
ham
merin
g a
way a
t H
ayer's confession
, insistin
g that
it was a
lie an
d th
at H
ayer w
as
a M
uslim
ou
t to sa
ve h
is fellow
M
uslim
s. T
he d
efense a
ttorn
eys la
rgely
ig
nored
the rea
l issue a
nd
con
-co
cted in
stead
a fa
nta
stic theo
ry
that M
alcolm w
as assassinated
by
a co
nsp
iracy
of h
is more p
olit-
ica
lly o
rie
nte
d fo
llow
ers w
ho
fram
ed th
e defen
dan
ts. IX: m
ody
had
no d
ifficulty in
smash
ing th
is th
eory. I h
ave n
o sp
ecial k
now
ledge
as to wh
ether or n
ot Hayer w
as a M
uslim
. Bu
t it is clear th
at th
e p
rosecution
never estab
lished
that
he w
as. Y
et the d
efense d
id n
ot
ham
mer a
t tha
t fact su
fficiently
to m
ak
e it clear in
the m
ind
s of
the ju
rors. If H
ay
er wa
s no
t a
Mu
slim, th
ere was n
o rea
son
to
believe D
ermod
y's conten
tion th
at H
ayer's confession
was a trick
to save h
is Mu
slim b
rothers.
Th
e defen
se was in
adeq
uate in
oth
er ways as w
ell. All fou
r of the
law
yers fo
r Bu
tler an
d J
oh
nso
n
were co
urt a
pp
oin
ted. T
hou
gh
th
ey are all Negroes, an
d ap
paren
t-ly sym
path
etic to the d
efend
ants,
they w
ere un
willin
g or un
able to
do a th
orough
job.
Th
e defen
se atto
rney
s alw
ays
took
for g
ran
ted th
e integ
rity o
f th
e police an
d p
rosecution
. Th
ey d
idn
't poin
t ou
t to th
e jury
how
th
e police op
erate in selectin
g out
malleab
le witn
esses and
rehears-
ing th
eir testimon
y un
til they re-
mem
ber w
hat th
ey're sup
posed
to. T
he d
efense attorn
eys were w
ill-in
g to
rock
the b
oa
t just a
little b
ut n
ot en
ou
gh
to ev
en ra
ise the
possib
ility of turn
ing it over. T
hey
men
tioned
some of th
e contrad
ic-tion
s in th
e testimon
y of the p
ros-ecu
tion
witn
esses, bu
t om
itted
most of th
em an
d n
ever ham
mered
at th
e pattern
of co
ntra
dictio
ns
enou
gh to en
sure th
at the ju
rors u
nd
erstood th
at the w
itnesses w
ere lyin
g or un
reliable.
• In
a Fren
ch film
abou
t a mu
rder
trial I once saw
, besid
es the p
ros-ecu
tor w
ho rep
resents th
e state
an
d th
e atto
rney
wh
o rep
resent-
ed th
e defen
dan
t, there w
as a
th
ird attorn
ey wh
o represen
ted th
e sla
in m
an
. Th
at th
ird p
oin
t of
view
was w
hat w
as la
ckin
g a
t th
is trial. F
or n
either th
e pro
se-cu
tion
no
r the d
efense a
ttorn
eys
were in
terested in
find
ing
the
truth
abou
t the assassin
ation.
For exam
ple, R
eub
en F
rancis is
a key p
erson w
hose testim
ony w
as n
ecessary
in o
rder to
find
ou
t w
ha
t ha
pp
ened
tha
t da
y. W
it-n
esses claim
ed th
at
he h
ad sh
ot H
ay
er, tha
t he w
as in
charg
e of
organizin
g protection
for Malcolm
X
, and
that h
e had
been
given tw
o of th
e mu
rder w
eap
on
s fou
nd
in
the b
allroom —
one of w
hich
dis-
app
eared. F
rancis is in
prison
on
the ch
arge of shootin
g Hayer, an
d
available to b
oth sid
es, yet he w
as
3I.; n
ot called to testify.
A
great man
y other p
eople w
ho co
uld
have h
elped
estab
lish th
e tru
th ab
out th
e assassination
never.:
were
called. A n
um
ber o
f eye-7'
witn
ess accoun
ts of the assassin
s-' tion
app
eared in
the p
ress, bu
t the
reporters w
ere not su
bp
oenaed
to testify.
Th
e only m
ajor fact establish
ed
at the trial is th
at Hayer w
as one
of th
e assassins. M
ost p
robab
ly h
e an
d h
is acco
mp
lices were h
ired
killers. A
ll the im
portan
t qu
estions su
r-ro
un
din
g th
e assa
ssinatio
n still
remain
to be an
swered
: W
ho ord
ered th
e assassination
? T
hose w
ho h
ad
a m
otiv
e inclu
de
Elijah
Mu
ham
mad
and
his folloW
-ers, righ
t-win
g and
racist organ-
izations, th
e U.S
. governm
ent an
d
private agen
cies of the A
merican
ru
ling class.
Wh
at ro
le did
the N
ew Y
ork
p
olice p
lay in
the a
ssassin
atio
n?
Wh
y d
idn
't they
pro
vid
e at lea
st th
eir usu
al p
rotectio
n
accorded M
alcolm X
's meetin
gs regularly?
Ju
st a w
eek b
efore a
n a
ttemp
t h
ad b
een m
ade on
Malcolm
's life in
wh
ich h
is ho
me w
as b
urn
ed
dow
n.
Did
the p
olice kn
owin
gly protect
one of th
e peop
le involved
in the
killin
g w
ho w
as ca
ugh
t by th
e cro
wd
? R
eliab
le press rep
orts
stated th
at the p
olice rescued
two
susp
ects from
the
aud
ience an
d
the m
atte
r h
as still n
ot b
een
. cla
rified. W
as th
e ma
n a
po
lice agen
t?
Were a
ny o
f the w
itnesses a
t th
e trial p
olice a
gen
ts or p
olice
info
rmers?
It is very
likely
that
such
ag
ents w
ere presen
t at th
e assassin
ation, b
ut n
one cam
e for' w
ard to testify.
A
ll these q
uestion
s remain
bit
the p
olice have n
o desire to
sue th
em. It is q
uite p
ossible,„th
e th
e final resp
on
sibility
forth
assassination rests w
ith those 'Who
run
this co
un
try, a
nd
thittth
e p
olice were in
volved at lelk
it -1
the exten
t " of b
eing' k
ept
trent in
terfering
w
ith th
ee,
from h
un
ting for th
e real, ki ll
Myste
ry N
ot S
olv
ed
by V
erd
ict
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