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Fighting for Justice: The Improbable Journey to Exposing Cover-Ups about the JFK Assassination and the Deaths of Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Kilgallen

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“Investigative reporting at its best. Mark Shaw’s original work into the questionable deaths of Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Kilgallen is now focused on the many unanswered questions left by the Warren Commission’s inquiry into the JFK assassination. Fighting for Justice has to be read.” —Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy and Casino

Packed with shocking new evidence, Fighting for Justice exposes the cover-ups of the JFK assassination and the murders of Dorothy Kilgallen and Marilyn Monroe, while revealing for the first time the corrupt inner workings of the Warren Commission based on the firsthand “whistleblower” account of an actual Commission member never identified before.

How does an explosive “whistleblower” account from a Warren Commission (WC) member never identified before destroy once and for all the biggest lie in American history, the “Oswald Alone” theory? On what basis did the member admit, “It’s more than Oswald. There is internal corruption on the Commission. I do not agree with the Report”?

Is the “whistleblower” the same one who surreptitiously passed Jack Ruby’s WC testimony to journalist Dorothy Kilgallen prior to its release date? And how did President Lyndon Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover strong arm the commission to prevent any investigation of the truth about who killed JFK and why?

Based on fifteen years of research, answers to these questions and more are uncovered in Fighting for Justice , bestselling author and noted historian Mark Shaw’s improbable journey to exposing cover-ups of the JFK assassination while proving Marilyn Monroe and Kilgallen were murdered.

320 pages, Hardcover

Published November 29, 2022

37 people are currently reading
73 people want to read

About the author

Mark Shaw

34 books107 followers
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

A former criminal defense attorney and legal analyst for USA Today, CNN and ESPN, Mark Shaw is the author of 25 books and counting. His most recent is "The Reporter Who Knew Too Much: The Mysterious Death of What's My Line TV Star and Media Icon Dorothy Kilgallen." Additional books include "The Poison Patriarch," Miscarriage of Justice," "Stations Along the Way," "Down for the Count," "Beneath the Mask of Holiness," "Larry Legend," "Bury Me In Pot Bunker," and "How to Become a Published Author: Idea to Publication."

Mr. Shaw has written for USA Today, Huffington Post, and the Aspen Daily News. He formally was a host or correspondent for ABC's Good Morning America, CBS's People, The World of People, Disney's The Scheme of Things and also hosted a three hour radio program in the Midwest. He is married to librarian Wen-ying Lu and lives in the San Francisco area.

More about Mr. Shaw may be learned at markshawbooks.com and on Wikipedia.

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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
Profile Image for Sketchbook.
698 reviews265 followers
December 22, 2022
The final installment in Mark Shaw's superior sleuthing while seeking justice for those maligned by pr-assisted "murders." You'll need a Val handy. Author Shaw spills the beans in this companion work to his "The Reporter Who Knew Too Much." These murders happened almost 60 years ago. Silence has reigned. But Shaw diligently pursued. Most of the probable villains are now dead. Ron Pataky, the prime suspect in the murder of columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, died earlier in the year....you may recall, she was found in a bedroom she never used, still wearing her wig, false eyelashes and full makeup, as if in bed....rogue gov agents, fearing she'd blow the lid off the bogus Warren Commission, "took care of her," as the song goes. She disputed the "Oswald Alone" theory. (Her final appearance on the TV show "What's My Line" is on YT. She was 52 at time of murder.) ~~ RFK operatives probably "took care of Monroe," out of panic, and JFK (he believes) was a Mafia hit....but I suggest you read the two books. There's a lot of new material. Some readers complained abt the writing in "The Reporter Who..." Here, the writing is smooth and the author gives a nice bio of his early legal work. Author believes the 3 might have remained alive if JFK had not made his brother Attorney-General. Thus the horror unfolds---.
Profile Image for Ingrid Self.
211 reviews5 followers
July 11, 2023
it was like trying to see a clear picture of the subject with someone continually getting in the way. Every time I tried to focus on the narrative, Mark Shaw put something about him - what he had in common etc - and blocked my view. Tedious.
723 reviews2 followers
June 8, 2023
This is the third book I have read by Mark Shaw, dealing with the mysterious death of media icon Dorothy Kilgallen and continued questions about the JFK assassination. In “Fighting for Justice”, Mark Shaw delves into the mysterious deaths of both Marilyn Monroe in August 1962 & media icon Dorothy Kiligallen, in November 1965. Through an improbable journey from his days as a defense lawyer & TV network legal analyst to becoming a fighter for justice for Dorothy Kilgallen. Now Mark Shaw looks into the mysterious death of Marilyn Monroe and her ties to JFK, RFK & Frank Sinatra. He looks at the bogus findings of the Warren Commission heavily controlled by J. Edgar Hoover and President Johnson.
A very through examination of the JFK assassination and it’s ties to the deaths of Marilyn Monroe & Dorothy Kilgallen. Highly informative.
6 reviews
December 11, 2022
Outstanding synthesis of data

Some of the discoveries he finds have been around a while around a while... He doesn't read widely the other literature but I think it also makes his approach very unique and interesting and he has found nuggets that are the researchers have not. I think he conclusively solves Marilyn Monroe's case here. I wish he had a strong lead in Dorothy's instance. All his books are worth reading.
Profile Image for Diane Stewart.
55 reviews
July 21, 2023
Start at Chapter 7. Prior is just “resume.”

CHAPTER 7

Source: Late 1979 House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations Report (HSCA)

4/4/1961. RFK orchestrates illegal abduction of Marcello in New Orleans, deports to Guatemala

6/5/1961. Marcello smuggled back into U.S.

Proof: Marcello and his friends never bothered again, even during remainder of RFK reign as AG

As 1963 came to a close: 1) RFK set to deport Marcello again, 2) RFK indicts Marcello for racketeering. In fact, Marcello on trial in a NoLA courtroom at moment JFK shot.

CHAPTER 12

Texan Kathleen Lieberman interview: 1) Summer 1963, just months before JFK assassination, saw Marcello & Ruby at Adolphus Hotel in Dallas. 2) 1977, phone call at grandparents house, lady tells her Oswald did not fire a shot, he was a patsy, actual shooter in sewer slot at ground level, she had a photo.

CHAPTER 21

Noted page 346 of Warren Commission Report identified caller that spoke to Ruby at a pay phone afternoon prior to Oswald shooting: Ken Dowe, KLIF radio announcer. “You know I’ll be there.”

Proof: In 2017, part of the 2981 JFK documents released by U.S. government included a 1966 memo forwarded to White House by Hoover which alleged KGB had data indicating VP LBJ behind JFK assassination “ a well organized conspiracy on part of the ultra right in U.S. to effect a coup”.

CHAPTER 22

Kilgallen concluded the JFK and Oswald assassinations simply a very successful mob operation. (Should have indicted Marcello and Dallas underlings with complicity in murders of JFK and Oswald)

[Kilgallen correctly took initial step of investigating Ruby’s shooting of Oswald as segue into JFK assassination investigation]

CHAPTER 23

Conclusion: JFK death orchestrated by Marcello so RFK would become powerless.

Overall a tedious presentation with too much “self”. Poor reference section. Illustrations virtually illegible.

Did anyone ever get to see Kilgallen notes for her final book-to-be before confiscation by FBI?

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
78 reviews
July 8, 2023
The first 3rd of this book could have been abbreviated..
And sometimes the phrase "It's not much of a stretch to infer or conclude ..." did sometimes feel like a personal stretch on the author's part
BUT...there is no doubt that the author has a compelling set of facts that make you reconsider and think again about
The deaths of JFK, Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Kilgallen
(Who I never knew about before this book)
3 reviews
December 23, 2023
It's about time.

Amazing facts about all these events are finally trickling out after all these years. I started reading books an the assassination in the early seventies. Had to stop when it got to be too much because , then, the books were coming out left and right. Many of the actors in all these events began to talk more as the years passed. We are now seeing a true analysis and it is refreshing.
Profile Image for Don.
68 reviews6 followers
February 19, 2023
Meticulously researched with persuasive reasoning by a retired defense lawyer. This tome will be appeciated by those folks that have a keen interest in evidentiary information, rather than the fraudulent, conclusory gar-bage that the main-stream-media spews on a daily basis.

Dorothy Kilgallen was an incredibly intelligent person who had her hand on the pulse of JFK's ambush and public execution. The title the author chose is apropos, as Dorothy's interviews with Jack Ruby panicked the cabal maniacs behind JFK's murder, so much so that they had to murder Dorothy too.

My only criticism of this book is Mark's self-deprecating statements that are unnecessary.
Profile Image for Sandy KPMP.
37 reviews2 followers
February 27, 2024
The information provided is extremely interesting but he really needs a good editor.
1 review
July 10, 2024
A lot of research went into the writing of Mr. Shaw's book and I appreciated that. Facts have a way to create and maintain interest and this book did just that for me. Question Authority.
Profile Image for Vivian Williams.
38 reviews3 followers
June 21, 2025
Absolutely loved this book and was fascinated by the author and his life as well. Can't wait to read more!!
Profile Image for J Earl.
2,337 reviews111 followers
December 8, 2022
I listened to the audio version of Mark Shaw's Fighting for Justice, narrated by Greg D Barnett, and didn't find it to be any more convincing than either his other books or most of the other conspiracy theorists (so-called investigative journalists and historians).

That isn't to say that the book didn't have some interesting information, and for those who are willing to make the leap Shaw makes this will be a very good book. The narrator was, for me, the highlight of the book. Some of the facts, and some of the coincidences, are intriguing. I'm just not convinced that the dots he chooses to connect actually connect. That said, his ability to sound convincing delivering highly questionable connections is astounding. Snake oil salesmen come to mind.

All in all, about the only people I can recommend this to are those already convinced of a conspiracy. Those unsure or skeptical will find nothing to definitively move them from their position. If, however, you do believe, then the audiobook is an excellent option for you.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
Profile Image for Kristi Betts.
530 reviews8 followers
November 28, 2022
I was drawn to this title because of the inclusion of Dorothy Kilgallen in this book about the cover-ups of the deaths of John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe.

The first six chapters of the book focus solely on the author. I was very confused as to why so much time was spent on the development of Shaw's background, but as the book progressed I could see how this was necessary information.

I don't know if I truly believe everything in this book. Still, it is very intriguing to hear of the information obtained through public records and YouTube videos (therein lies some of my skepticism). Although I am not completely convinced of the connections between the suspicious deaths of the three - Monroe, Kennedy, and Kilgallen, it was very interesting to see how Shaw could make these assumptions and provide some reason for doubt.

I listened to the audiobook version of the book.
Profile Image for Amanda T.
556 reviews4 followers
November 24, 2022
Listened on audio. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this ARC. Unfortunately, I don't buy any of it. I'm all for a new theory of a famous celebrity death (especially JFK), but I want hard evidence not opinion or conjecture.

There's a good drinking game in this book though - the number of times he either uses an "author's note" to push his own agenda, uses the term "this author" or references one of his other books about exactly the same 3 conspiracy theories (as this was my first book by the author, I found this out by a quick search on Goodreads).

This book needs to be shelved with the copious number of "my father was Zodiac" books out there.
Profile Image for Mortisha Cassavetes.
2,840 reviews65 followers
January 13, 2023
I am truly amazed by this author's time and diligence into the investigation of the deaths of JFK, Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Kilgallen! So many interesting facts, I have never heard of before, not only into their lives but their deaths. This is a definite read for all non-fiction lovers. Highly Recommend It!
Profile Image for Cindy.
135 reviews
January 14, 2023
EXCELLENT, like each of Mark Shaw's books I have read. I look forward to reading his book on Melvin Belli next.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews

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