In late November 1966, Jim Garrison informed Life stringer David Chandler that he was secretly reopening the investigation into the John F. Kennedy assassination. In exchange for assistance from Life, Garrison offered the magazine the inside scoop on his probe. Life had just launched its own new investigation into the assassination, publishing some preliminary findings in an article of November 25, 1966, "A Matter of Reasonable Doubt."

The author of that article, Life editor Richard Billings, flew to New Orleans and struck a deal with the DA. "The arrangement was unorthodox and of arguable propriety," notes author Patricia Lambert. "Yet, theoretically, it could benefit all. Life would give Garrison free assistance and information on a global scale and in return obtain the inside story of the investigation, to be written by Richard Billings." (Patricia Lambert, False Witness [New York: M. Evans & Co., 1998), pp. 45-46.)

Life and Billings' participation lasted less than six months. It came to a halt when several members of Life's senior staff became convinced that Garrison was a fraud and his arrest of Clay Shaw a gross miscarriage of justice. (Lambert, pp. 82-83.) Billings himself, however, remained interested in the DA's investigation, as shown in the journal of NODA investigator Tom Bethell.

During his time with the NODA, Billings kept a journal that documents many of the day-to-day occurences in the DA's office and the evolving theories of Jim Garrison. That journal is presented here in its entirety. Approximately the first half consists of rough notes only. The remainder is presented in more conventional diary form, though it was clearly dictated and transcribed at a later date. Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization have been corrected wherever possible. Grammar and all ellipses are as in Billings' original manuscript. No text has been omitted.