Robert McKeown
Robert McKeown was born in 1911. He became involved in buying and selling of guns. In the late 1950s he supplied weapons to Carlos Prio and Fidel Castro fighting Fulgencio Batista in Cuba. In 1959 Jack Ruby made contact with McKeown. Ruby told him that he was "in with the Mafia and had a whole lot of jeeps he wanted to get to Castro." Ruby also wanted advice on how he could gain the release of a couple of friends imprisoned in Cuba.
In September, 1963, two men arrived at McKeown's house. One man introduced himself as Lee Oswald (his friend was called Hernandez). Oswald said he was willing to pay $10,000 for four rifles, 300 Savage automatics and a telescopic sight. McKeown refused as he thought he was being set-up. As Larry Hancock later pointed out: "McKeown thought about it but decided no way, after all, anybody could walk into any Sears Roebuck in Texas and get the same rifles for only a few hundred dollars. Obviously there had to be a catch and by being suspicious, McKeown avoided the possibility of having Oswald found with weapons which could be traced to a very well known Castro connection."
After the assassination of John F. Kennedy McKeown was visited by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. McKeown was questions about Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby but denied knowing either man. Later, McKeown was interviewed by the House Select Committee on Assassinations but his testimony was not given much crediance and he was accused of trying to "get book royalties or television payments".
McKeown was also interviewed by Anthony Summers and his story appeared in his book, The Kennedy Conspiracy (1980). He was also questioned by Dick Russell (The Man Who Knew Too Much).
Primary Sources
(1) Anthony Summers, The Kennedy Conspiracy (1980)
In 1959, probably in late spring. Ruby apparently got in touch with convicted Texas gunrunner Robert McKeown, who previously ferried munitions to Castro. McKeown, whom I interviewed, quotes Ruby as saying he was "in with the Mafia and had a whole lot of jeeps he wanted to get to Castro." According to McKeown, who becomes extremely nervous when discussing this area, one of the Mafia contacts was Santos Trafficante. Ruby also told McKeown, without naming names, that he "wanted to talk about getting some people out of Cuba" on behalf of "a man in Las Vegas." He offered McKeown a large sum of money for a letter of introduction to Castro, a letter he hoped would help secure the release of unnamed friends detained in Havana. Although Ruby never followed through on the offer of money, he did make unexplained visits to Cuba that year. In 1963 Ruby avoided telling the truth about why he went to Cuba or how often, a lapse that can only be explained rationally in terms of the connections which risked exposure. At this point in Ruby's story there looms a suspected direct association with Santos Traficante, the Mafia chieftain who would later be reported as prophesying that the President was "going to be hit."
(2) Larry Hancock, Someone Would Have Talked (2003)
On a Saturday morning in late September, two men drove up to a house owned by Robert McKeown. McKeown, his wife and a friend were finishing a late breakfast. The friend, Sam Neal, had been staying with McKeown due to a pending divorce. Upon seeing a red car drive up, McKeown's wife ran upstairs to dress while two men got out of the car and proceeded to knock on the door. One man was younger and in shirtsleeves, while the other was Latin, dark skin but not black, just less than six feet, older, late 30's and dressed in a suit and tie.
The younger man opened the conversation, "I'm Lee Oswald; I finally found you. You are McKeown are you not?" He introduced the man with him as "Hemandez." Hemandez had been driving the car.
After a bit of conversation the younger man came to the point, "I understand that you can supply any amount of arms...we are thinking about doing a revolution in El Salvador." McKeown was still on probation for handling shipments of guns for Prio Soccares and getting them delivered to Fidel Castro in Cuba. Hence, McKeown wanted nothing to do with any new gun deal. As quickly as possible he got the two out of the house and told Sam Neal, "Sam, ain't that a hell of a mess."
But the men came back to the door and McKeown stepped out as if leaving the house and Oswald tried again, "Mac would you do me a favor? It will not involve you in any way. I can give you $10,000 if you can get me four rifles, 300 Savage automatics with a telescopic sight." McKeown thought about it but decided no way, after all, anybody could walk into any Sears Roebuck in Texas and get the same rifles for only a few hundred dollars. Obviously there had to be a catch and by being suspicious, McKeown avoided the possibility of having Oswald found with weapons which could be traced to a very well known Castro connection.
Forty years after John Kennedy's murder in Dallas, the event remains a part of the American conscious. Polls show the majority of the public still believes there was some sort of conspiracy involved in his assassination and the average person thinks it just might be exposed once the government releases all the confidential documents some day. Those that deny the conspiracy question scoff at all this, stating that no conspiracy could have been good enough that somebody would not have talked after all this time. After all we all know even successful criminals feel compelled to tell someone, sometime. Someone Would Have Talked tackles that objection head on, examining a number of examples of individuals who talked when they shouldn't have. Some talked before the assassination and some afterwards. These are not the people who sold their stories or whose names you would see in the tabloids. These are real people, many of them involved in the secret war against Castro and the U.S. Government project intended to assassinate him. You find their remarks in reports made to Police, the FBI and Secret Service. Reports which were never addressed in any coordinated or proactive criminal investigation. The records have been released, people have talked, witnesses have finally revealed the elements of both the conspiracy and the cover-up, the real history is here in Someone Would Have Talked and the 1,400 pages of reference exhibits that come on this CD with it. (Larry Hancock, JFK Lancer Publications)