Starrs' Foster Delay Explained
- by John Moore, posted to the Internet May 24, 1996

INTRODUCTION

Two and a half months ago Mr. Starr handed the Foster investigation to a Memphis prosecutor, Mr. Parker. Several weeks ago the New York Times predicted Mr. Parker was on the verge of releasing a conclusion of suicide in the Foster investigation. No such conclusion has been rendered; Mr. Parker remains silent atop the mountain of evidence gathered by Mr. Starr in the previous year and a half of investigation.

According to the Fiske report and those in the media and government the Foster death is a straightforward suicide, obvious to the point of boredom. Why then has the investigation continued so long without the confirmation so many believe to be obvious? Clearly there is a dilemma which has escaped attention.

REVIEW

Vincent Foster, Deputy White House Counsel to the President, lifelong friend of the President, was found dead in Ft. Marcy Park on July 20 1993 at 5:45 p.m. by an individual addressed as CW, Confidential Witness, in the Fiske Report on Vincent Foster dated June 1994. In testimony before members of the US House of Representatives, as recorded in the House Congressional Record of August 2, 1994, CW states that the body was found with both hands palm-up, and empty, no gun in either hand or in the immediate vicinity of the body.

At approximately 6:09 p.m. EMS personnel Gonzales and Hall arrived at Ft. Marcy. At the same time Park Police Officer Kevin Fornshill arrived at Ft. Marcy. Fornshill and EMS divided into two groups to search for the body. Officer Fornshill first arrived at the body and some seconds or minutes later, Fiske is not specific, EMS Gonzales and Hall discovered Fornshill standing by the body.

Gonzales and Hall approached the body for visual inspection. They both saw the revolver in Mr. Fosters' right hand, which was palm-down, partially covering the revolver. This is the first mention of the Ft. Marcy gun in the Foster investigation and the first major contradiction, recall CWs' testimony.

Gonzales and Hall call out to Fornshill and direct his attention to the revolver. Fornshill appears unable to see the gun at first, then acknowledges recognition. The time is approximately 6:20 - 6:30 p.m., on that day sunset occurred at about 8:30 p.m. EMS Gonzales and Arthur both express doubts about suicide based on their examination of the body as recorded on page 33 of the Fiske report.

According to Fiske, Dr. Haut, the Medical Examiner, arrived at about 7:40 p.m. According to Dr. Haut in an FBI interview, he arrived at about 6:35 p.m.. According to Fiske, Dr. Haut discovered a large hole in the back of the skull. According to Dr. Haut's FBI interview, he noted only that the hair in a small area on the back of the head was matted with blood and dirt. According to Dr. Beyer who did the autopsy, the wound in the back of the skull was small, about 1 1/4" by 1", the size of a quarter or half dollar. None of the participants on scene, EMS, Park Police or Dr. Haut noted any brain or bone fragments on the surrounding premises.

The scene was searched by Park Police and the FBI but the alledged fatal bullet was not found. The FBI performed an ownership trace on the .38 caliber 1913 Colt revolver found in Foster's hand but was unable to find the owner. Interviews with Fosters' three adult children, one son very familiar with all the family guns, revealed that the Ft. Marcy gun was not from the family collection. Interviews with Lisa Foster on the Ft. Marcy gun are consistently ambigious and inconclusive. According to the FBI lab reports the .38 caliber casings found in the Ft. Marcy revolver were marked "HV", which indicates a High Velocity round.

DILEMMA

• 1) There is no evidence linking the Ft. Marcy gun to the wound described in the autopsy. The alleged fatal bullet has not been found and the wound is far too small for a High Velocity .38 round which typically removes 1/4 to 1/3 of the skull surrounding the exit. No blood, fingerprint, saliva, or other bodily secretions belonging to Mr. Foster were found on the revolver by the FBI lab and none have been publicly reported by the Park Police. No bullet fragments were noted or retrieved from the cranium during the autopsy.

• 2) There is no evidence linking the Ft. Marcy gun to Vincent Foster or his family previous to its discovery in his deceased hand.

• 3) There is evidence, testimony, that the Ft. Marcy gun did not belong to Vincent Foster.

• 4) There is evidence, testimony, that the Ft. Marcy gun was not in Fosters' hand when the body was first discovered.

• 5) Evidence items 1 through 4 are all consistent, they do not contradict but rather reinforce each other, yet they are all from different sources and discovered at different times in the investigation.

There is only one conclusion that can be drawn about the Ft. Marcy gun given the evidence ------ simply put, the Ft. Marcy gun was not used in the death of Vincent Foster. Any conclusion, which assumes the Ft. Marcy gun caused Fosters' death, is in contradiction to the evidence above.

There are only three possibilities in the Foster death:
  1) Accidental death
  2) Suicide
  3) Homicide

Option 1 has never been an issue. Option 2 cannot be used because no suicide weapon was found. As shown above there is no evidence that the Ft. Marcy gun was used to kill Vincent Foster. Therefore we are reduced to option 3, homicide. Vincent Foster was assassinated. Assassinated is the appropriate term because there is also clear evidence of obstruction of justice on the part of official investigators, but this is another crime story.

A more thorough review of the evidence will show other independent paths to the homicide conclusion but the one described here is the most concise. So now the reason for the endless delays and hand-offs in the resolution of the Foster case is made evident, Mr. Parker has found himself in a box with only one exit.