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G Robert Blakey, who has died aged 90, was 1 of America’s starring ineligible scholars, and his speciality was organised crime. He is champion remembered for penning nan portion of nan 1970 Organized Crime Control Act aimed astatine “racketeer influenced criminal organisations”. Its provisions became popularly known arsenic nan Rico statutes, recalling nan Edward G Robinson characteristic Rico, an Italian mobster successful nan 1931 gangster movie Little Caesar.
Blakey had antecedently drafted nan wiretapping conception of nan 1968 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, and he became nan superior assets for authorities and section governments erstwhile they moved to legislate successful those areas. Blakey’s boy John, an lawyer and past territory judge successful Chicago, said his father’s determination came from a speech extracurricular nan courtroom pinch a suspect he was erstwhile prosecuting, who told him: “You’re doing a awesome job, but don’t worry, you’re not going to win. The rules won’t fto you.”
This inheritance thrust Blakey into nan nationalist oculus when, successful 1977, he was hired arsenic nan 2nd main counsel for nan House Select Committee connected Assassinations (HSCA), charged pinch investigating nan shootings of President John F Kennedy and nan Rev Martin Luther King.
His report, which included an audio portion recorded from nan unfastened microphone of 1 of nan motorcycles escorting Kennedy’s motorcade done Dallas, came to nan conclusion that JFK’s decease was “probably” nan consequence of a conspiracy, in which Lee Harvey Oswald had so fired 3 shots, 1 of which missed, from down nan Kennedy limo – arsenic nan earlier Warren Commission investigation had concluded successful 1964 – but that location was besides different gunman involved, who fired a azygous changeable that missed from nan “grassy knoll” in beforehand of nan car. Blakey pinned nan conspiracy connected nan mafia, specifically 2 dons, Carlos Marcello from New Orleans and Santo Trafficante Jnr from Florida.
His 1981 book, The Plot to Kill nan President, became a bestseller. It was co-written pinch Richard Billings, who, arsenic an editor astatine Life mag successful 1963, had been instrumental successful buying nan authorities to nan “Zapruder film” (home-movie footage changeable by a bystander, Abraham Zapruder) of nan assassination, which Life printed pinch 2 frames reversed and past kept hidden from nationalist position for years.
Born successful Burlington, North Carolina, Robert was nan boy of Lewis, president of nan First National Bank, and Myrtle (Malatia, nee Horrigan), who became nan head of a section section shop aft her husband’s death. Robert studied accuracy astatine nan University of Notre Dame, successful South Bend, Indiana, graduating successful 1957. He entered Notre Dame’s rule schoolhouse and successful 1958 joined Elaine Menard, who had studied astatine St Mary’s, nan women’s assemblage associated pinch Notre Dame.
He qualified to believe rule successful 1960, and joined nan Justice Department’s organised crime division; successful 1961 Robert Kennedy became his leader arsenic lawyer general, but aft JFK’s assassination, Blakey returned to Notre Dame arsenic a professor.
The caller lawyer general, Nicholas Katzenbach, made him a advisor successful 1967 to President Lyndon B Johnson’s committee connected rule enforcement, and he worked intimately pinch nan Arkansas legislator John McClellan, whose committee was taking grounds from nan mafia hitman Joe Valachi. In 1973 Blakey became head of nan Institute connected Organized Crime astatine Cornell University, from which he was hired by nan HSCA.
When nan HSCA’s first main counsel, Richard Sprague, complained astir a deficiency of practice from intelligence agencies, nan committee chairman, Henry Gonzalez, demanded his resignation, only to person nan committee members overrule him. Instead Gonzalez quit, and his replacement, Louis Stokes, wanted his ain counsel. Sprague resigned and Blakey was appointed.
He discovered that nan HSCA had frankincense acold received nary classified worldly from either nan FBI aliases CIA, and demanded a CIA liaison to facilitate relations. But small changed, and according to The Last Investigation, a 1993 book by Gaeton Fonzi, a journalist and erstwhile HSCA researcher, nan committee was stonewalled connected immoderate investigations of intelligence connections to nan Kennedy assassination.
When nan HSCA reported its findings, nan erstwhile Warren Commission counsel David Belin claimed it “would not guidelines nan trial of time”. It did not. In 1992, successful nan aftermath of Oliver Stone’s movie JFK, Blakey helped constitute nan JFK Assassination Records Collection Act, which created a 3rd investigation, by nan Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB). That year, he and Billings issued a revised type of their 1981 book, this clip titled Fatal Hour.
In 2003, declassified documents revealed that Blakey’s CIA “liaison” while moving for nan HSCA, George Joannides, had successful 1963 been nan CIA’s man successful complaint of Cuban exile groups who had interacted pinch Oswald earlier nan assassination.
Blakey returned to Notre Dame successful 1980, wherever he remained until retiring arsenic professor of rule successful 2012. He based on connected behalf of Joseph Scheidler successful nan US ultimate tribunal lawsuit Schedler v National Organization for Women, which accused Scheidler’s anti-abortion web of violating nan Rico enactment by colluding to violently extremity women’s entree to healthcare. In 2006 nan tribunal upheld Blakey’s statement that because nan actions did not impact robbery aliases extortion, Rico laws did not apply.
Elaine died successful 2002, and a son, Matthew, successful 2014. He is survived by 2 sons, Michael and John, and 5 daughters, Elizabeth, Marie, Katherine, Christine and Margaret.
