Joseph Milteer
From The Kennedy Assassination Resource
Wealthy member of right-wing organisations
At about the same time that Lee Harvey Oswald left his note for James Hosty in Dallas, the Police Intelligence Bureau in Miami received information about a possible assassination attempt on JFK. It was contained in a recording of a conversation between Willie Somersett, a police and FBI informant, and Milteer. According to the tape, Milteer said that the best way to kill JFK would be "from an office building with a high-powered rifle." When asked if they were really going to try to kill him, he replied "Oh, yeah, it is in the working..." His comment about the subsequent investigation was that "they will pick somebody up within hours afterwards, if anything like that would happen. Just to throw the public off." JFK was due to visit Florida on November 18th, so the police warned the other agencies about the information and the motorcade planned for Miami was cancelled. The Secret Service checked on Milteer's whereabouts, but did not interview him.
On the morning of the assassination, Milteer is said to have phoned Somersett from Dallas and said, "I don't think you will ever see your boy Kennedy in Miami again." Someone answering Milteer's description was seen in Dealey Plaza at the time of the assassination.
The following day, Milteer and Somersett met again in Jacksonville. According to Somersett, Milteer had been pleased with the success of the assassination and had said, "Well I told you so. It happened like I told, didn't it? It happened from a window with a high-powered rifle... that is the way it was supposed to be done, and that is the way it was done." He had also been enthusiastic about a plan to blame the assassination on Zionist Jews.
[edit] Mysterious Death
The circumstances of his death are not clear. His stove had exploded several weeks earlier, burning his legs. He had had treatment for the burns, which were healing, when he died suddenly. The Death Certificate shows the prime cause of death as "severe 3rd degree burns both lower extremities (40% body surface)." Then it also shows diabetes as a condition.
