Johnny and Royce were twins. They had been mates on their father's charter fishing boat since they were six years old. They graduated from high school in 1967. Johnny went to college at Berkeley and hoped to someday become an attorney. Royce was drafted and sent to Vietnam.
Johnny met John Ellis at Berkeley and they became close friends. They lived in a commune with Matt who led protests against the Vietnam War. Matt tried to persuade President Lyndon B. Johnson to withdraw American troops from Vietnam but he violently resisted. Instead, he sent even more troops to Vietnam. Matt became upset with President Johnson.
John Ellis was angry because his brother Ray had been killed in Vietnam. Then Royce was also killed there. John Ellis flunked out of Berkeley and fled to Canada. He became a fugitive draft dodger.
Anger and frustration led a sniper to assassinate President Johnson on August 8, 1968. The shot was fired from the top of The Washington National Hotel. The sniper left the rifle behind but kept the fired shell casing as a souvenir. FBI Deputy Director Roy Thomas led the investigation but had no leads.
Johnny then became a successful criminal defense attorney. He and Deputy Director Thomas met in many contentious cases throughout the following years and became bitter adversaries.
The assassination of the president remained unsolved for thirty years. Modern technological advancements in law enforcement eventually led Deputy Director Thomas to charge John Ellis with the assassination of the president.
John Ellis retained his old friend Johnny from Berkley to represent him. Law enforcement believed the assassin had kept the fired shell casing as his souvenir. A reminder that he had done it and gotten away with it. Or perhaps he had kept it for another reason. One that was far more sinister.
The assassin's identity was revealed when John Ellis went on trial. The location of the fired shell casing was discovered. Did John Ellis assassinate the president? Or did someone else do it? The souvenir that the assassin had taken with him will reveal the true identity of the assassin.
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The Assassin
Mystery / ThrillerLBJ was assassinated after he refused to withdraw American troops from Vietnam. The sniper took the fired shell casing with him. The FBI believed it was a souvenir. The alleged assailant was apprehended thirty years later when modern technology led...
