Lucien Sarti
Encyclopedia
Lucien Sarti was a drug trafficker and killer-for-hire involved in the infamous French Connection
heroin network. He was named on the television series The Men Who Killed Kennedy
, as well as in a deathbed confession by former CIA agent E. Howard Hunt
, as one of the men who shot at U.S. President
John F. Kennedy
in Dealy Plaza on the day of his assassination. The series aimed to critically analyze the evidence in the assassination
and attacked the Warren Commission
conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald
had acted alone in killing Kennedy.
In one of the late episodes of the series, aired in 2003 on The History Channel
, French prisoner Christian David named Sarti as one of three French criminals hired to carry out the assassination of Kennedy on November 22, 1963, when he was interviewed by author Anthony Summers
. David's account was corroborated by Michele Nicoli, a former associate of David's who is currently in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
's witness protection program. Sarti was the only man David explicitly named, as Sarti had been killed by police in Mexico City
in 1972. The trio had all been working for heroin trafficker Auguste Ricord
, a known client of the Marseilles underworld, at the time of Kennedy's death.
Writer Stephen Revelle, the man who named Sarti on "The Men Who Killed Kennedy", said that Sarti was the one who had fired from the grassy knoll and hit the president in the head. Journalistic and police sources in Paris and Marseille told Revelle that Sarti was known as an extremely daring and reckless man, known and despised even by his own associates for taking enormous chances; but that the willingness to take these chances was what made him such a successful drug trafficker and assassin.
French Connection
The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Turkey to France and then to the United States. The operation reached its peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when it provided the vast majority of the illicit heroin used in the United States...
heroin network. He was named on the television series The Men Who Killed Kennedy
The Men Who Killed Kennedy
The Men Who Killed Kennedy is a 9-part video documentary series by Nigel Turner about the John F. Kennedy assassination. The series, which related various conspiracy theories, was extensively challenged on factual grounds....
, as well as in a deathbed confession by former CIA agent E. Howard Hunt
E. Howard Hunt
Everette Howard Hunt, Jr. was an American intelligence officer and writer. Hunt served for many years as a CIA officer. Hunt, with G...
, as one of the men who shot at U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
in Dealy Plaza on the day of his assassination. The series aimed to critically analyze the evidence in the assassination
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
and attacked the Warren Commission
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 27, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
had acted alone in killing Kennedy.
In one of the late episodes of the series, aired in 2003 on The History Channel
The History Channel
History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...
, French prisoner Christian David named Sarti as one of three French criminals hired to carry out the assassination of Kennedy on November 22, 1963, when he was interviewed by author Anthony Summers
Anthony Summers
Anthony Bruce Summers is the non-fiction author of seven best-selling investigative books. He is an Irish citizen, and has been working for some twenty years with Robbyn Swan, who is now his co-author and fifth wife...
. David's account was corroborated by Michele Nicoli, a former associate of David's who is currently in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
's witness protection program. Sarti was the only man David explicitly named, as Sarti had been killed by police in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
in 1972. The trio had all been working for heroin trafficker Auguste Ricord
Auguste Ricord
Auguste Ricord, nicknamed Il Commandante, was one of the founding members of the French Connection, a mafiosi-type organisation involved in heroin trade, based in France in the 1950s and 1960s....
, a known client of the Marseilles underworld, at the time of Kennedy's death.
Writer Stephen Revelle, the man who named Sarti on "The Men Who Killed Kennedy", said that Sarti was the one who had fired from the grassy knoll and hit the president in the head. Journalistic and police sources in Paris and Marseille told Revelle that Sarti was known as an extremely daring and reckless man, known and despised even by his own associates for taking enormous chances; but that the willingness to take these chances was what made him such a successful drug trafficker and assassin.
Further reading
- Davis, John H. MafiaAmerican MafiaThe American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
Kingfish: Carlos MarcelloCarlos MarcelloCarlos "The Little Man" Marcello was a Sicilian-American mafioso who became the boss of the New Orleans crime family during the 1940s and held this position for the next 30 years.-Early life:...
and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy. New York: Signet, 1989. ISBN 0-451-16418-0 - Kruger, Henrik. The Great Heroin Coup: Drugs, Intelligence, and International Fascism. Boston: South End Press, 1980. ISBN 0-89608-031-5
- Marrs, JimJim MarrsJim Marrs is an American former newspaper journalist and New York Times best-selling author of books and articles on a wide range of alleged cover ups and conspiracies. Marrs is a prominent figure in the JFK conspiracy press and his book Crossfire was a source for Oliver Stone's film JFK...
. Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1990. ISBN 0-88184-648-1 - Mills, James. The Underground Empire: Where Crime and Governments Embrace. Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1986. ISBN 0-385-17535-3
- Scott, Peter Dale and Marshall, Jonathan. Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991. ISBN 0-520-07312-6
- Sterling, Claire. Octopus: The Long Reach of the International Sicilian MafiaMafiaThe Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
. New York: Simon & Schuster (Touchstone Edition), 1991. ISBN 0-671-73402-4
External links
- Biography: Lucien Sarti
- The Men Who Killed Kennedy - an article on the TV series, which mentions David's claim of Sarti's involvement.
- The Corsican Connection - a page which explores the possible involvement of the Corsican Mafia in the assassination of John F. Kennedy