List XVIII: Abraham Bolden

1. Secret Service Agent Abraham Bolden was arrested when he arrived in Washington to testify before the Warren Commission.

2. Bolden planned to explain to the Warren Commission:

1) the Secret Service's poor record of protecting President Kennedy prior to and during November 22, 1963

2) the plots to assassinate President Kennedy in Chicago (November 2, 1963) and Tampa (November 18, 1963), both of which resembled the successful assassination in Dallas on November 22. In Chicago, for instance, the assassination was to be carried out by a four-man Cuban exile hit squad, using high-powered rifles as the limousine was forced to slow down to make a hairpin left turn on the Jackson exit of the Northwest Expressway (now the Kennedy Expressway)

3. "The president's life was in grave danger because of the inefficiency of security around him, too many weaknesses. When that bullet struck the head of the president, it struck me, too, because I saw it coming," Bolden said to Chuck Goudie of WLS-TV, Chicago.

4. According to Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann, "It took two trials, but Bolden was finally convicted on counterfeiting charges based only on the testimony of two criminals: one of whom Bolden had previously arrested, and one who later admitted committing perjury against Bolden."

5. Matthew Smith writes that this second criminal, Joseph Spagnoli, later confessed he lied to the jury to convict Bolden at the request, allegedly, of Prosecutor Richard Sikes.

6. Despite Bolden's exemplary reputation and stellar record of service, he spent six years in prison -- "sometimes in solitary confinement after he would try to draw attention to his case" (Waldron and Hartmann).

7. Click here for more information on the effort to clear Bolden's name.