Broken Silence

by Ray "Tex" Brown, Don Lasseter

Revealed for the first time ever, here is the personal account of Ray "Tex" Brown--the man who helped teach Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald hot to shoot mere months before the assissination of President John F. Kennedy. Ray "Tex" Brown was paid by Lyndon B. Johnson, himself, to cover up his involvement, and has kept silence for over 30 years.

Genres: True Crime

271 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[Pete daPixie · Rating 2 out of 5]

'Broken Silence' is the supposed memoir of Ray 'Tex' Brown professing to be an expose of truth about Lee Harvey Oswald, LBJ., and the assassination of JFK. As an avid reader of the political killings in America during the 1960's, I am somewhat ambivalent to this kind of 'tell all' publication, arriving in print decades after the events. Another Brown, Madeleine, revealed her story of the 'Murchison party' at a time when concrete corroboration was unlikely. Oswald's secret 'lover' Judyth Vary Baker also appeared to tell of her liaison with the accused assassin as late as 2010 in her book 'Me & Lee'. Many accept these accounts, and indeed they can be impossible to refute, however I stick like glue to primary source historical fact in these cases. Others can make up their own minds.
What I do not like about this story line is the blatantly obvious construct of the dialogue to fit the well known facts. For instance, undercover FBI operative Edward Becker, who had knowledge of the activities of Carlos Marcello was described to his FBI case officer as "a tomato salesman". The epithet has long been common knowledge in the research community. It also lacks any solid proof anywhere in the text. Co-writer Don Lasseter states that he researched Brown's claims with documents in the LBJ library, but fails to produce anything in print to validate the claims. There are many assertions that Oswald and Ruby knew each other prior to November 22nd '63. Again, I view these statements with caution. The idea that Ruby and Oswald were engaged in shooting lessons seem bizarre as does the presence of Carlos Marcello on the scene. I have always been of the opinion that Oswald was a patsy, like James Earl Ray and Sirhan Bishara Sirhan.
Two stars for this, mostly because it was read in a day.

[David Alexander DC · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you know a lot, the Cuban sounds like one of the shooters.