New information from eyewitness William R. Livesay
In the early 1960s, William Livesay was Maitre D at the Court of Two Sisters restaurant in New Orleans, where he worked with Eugene C. (Gene) Davis, the man Dean Andrews testified was the man he had been covering for with the phony name, "Clay Bertrand." Livesay recently came forward with some information on Andrews and Gene Davis that may shed some light on that episode.
From: bestofferrealty@Yahoo.com
Subject: Kennedy Assassination
Date: 26 Dec 2000 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: e1.e2cf5cc.277abc67@aol.com
Newsgroups: alt.assassination.jfk
My name is William R. Livesay. I am a 60 year old Miami real estate broker. I have no idea why I am posting this message except to throw in my 2 cents worth of meaningless info on the JFK saga. First let me say that I has in the Marine Corps from 1957-60 and was stationed at Atsugi Japan during the time Oswald was there. I was in Marine Air Group 13, Squadron VMA-212. To the best of my knowledge I never met Oswald. After leaving the Marines I went to New Orleans and worked at various restaurants in the French Quarter, Antoines, Brennans,Royal Orleans, Giardinas, Court of The Two Sisters. In August, 1962 I killed an AWOL Army Sgt. in a brawl in a bar called the Gaslight Lounge. I was tried for murder by ADA Frank Shea. My defense lawyers were Peter Compagno and former DA Richard Dowling.
I was found guilty and sentenced to Life at Angola (Don't even ask why I was found guilty of murder during a bar fight & with 2 such heavyweight defense lawyers). Anyway, at Angola we did not have access to newspapers so was unable to follow the actual trial of Shaw. In retrospect, I doubt very much if Garrison would have been interested in my 2 cents worth of info since it would have been counter productive to his case. Only recently since I have begun learning how to use the Internet have I discovered all the fascinating testimony from the trial. It amazes me how many of the characters I knew during my time in New Orleans. I knew Garrison's Chief Investigator, Pershing Gervais, I had waited on Carlos Marcello and his brothers numerous times, The Court of Two Sisters where I worked was owned at the time by Nick Karno and Frank Carraci and Giardinas Steak House on N. Rampart St. was owned by Francis Giardina, a Marcello associate. I'm sure that had Garrison known of all these people I knew and the fact that I was in Atsugi with Oswald, that I would have been a possible witness for him given the way that a lot of his detractors portray him. By that I mean, it seems that anyone who had shook hands with one of his suspects or happened to have an office in the same building, or was at one time seen in the same bar or at the same party became tainted by association or was accused of working for the CIA, etc. But I digress. My tiny bit of useless information is this. I worked as a Maitre D at the Court of Two Sisters and my girlfriend was a stripper at one of the local clubs. While waiting for her to get off work one night, I got into a fight with a fellow in a bar and cut him with a knife. I was charged with Attempted murder and released on bond.(This was early 1962) I asked Eugene C. Davis, who was night manager at the Court of Two Sisters if he could set me up with any of his lawyer friends. He sent me to Dean Andrews. Before I left for the appointment I asked Gene (Now deceased) if I could drop his name to the lawyer and he told me to tell Andrews that Mr. Bertrand sent me. I remember this as though it were yesterday and it meant absolutely nothing to me at the time. Only after seeing,nearly 40 years later, how crucial the Clem Bertrand thing was to the Garrison case, does it have any meaning to me. It tells me that Bertrand was Gene Davis because he did use that pseudonym for some reason when sending clients to Dean Andrews. Incidentally that attempted murder charge was dropped and my later Life sentence given by Judge Edward A. Haggerty (Another JFK Trial player) was later reduced via the Pardon Board to 15 years, I was paroled after serving less than 6 years and went to work for the Louisiana Jaycees as Executive Vice President. After that I moved to Miami, became a Realtor and have lived happily ever after. If any of this drivel is of interest to anyone, they may E-Mail me at bestofferrealty@Yahoo.com
From: William Livesay
I'm sure my info is only trivia and I can see where thousands of whackos
came out of the woodwork with all sorts of theories, first hand knowledge,
red herrings, etc. once the conspiracy theory became popular. It just
happened to hit me like a brick when I was reading some of Dean Andrews
testimony where one of the DAs, I think Sciambra?, had him cornered in a
lie and Andrews admitted that Davis, using the alias Bertrand, frequently
sent him clients, usually "fags." Gene Davis was definitely homosexual,
but not of the swishy or Nelly type. I knew Gene Davis well and knew him
during my earlier New Orleans period, 1956-57, when I was a 16 year old
busboy at Antoines and he was a waiter at Court of Two Sisters. I was only
marking time in New Orleans then awaiting my 17th birthday so I could join
the Marines. I turned 17 on Feb. 22, 1957 and was inducted in March.
When I returned to N.O. sometime in 1961 Gene was then night manager at
the Court of 2 Sisters and he hired me as a waiter, then Maitre D there.
He lived, I believe, on Dauphine St.then and he later purchased a small
bar in about the 700 block of Iberville, between Royal & Bourbon. I
understand he was killed by a "trick" several years ago.
Again, it's doubtful that Garrison would have used me as a witness re the
Bertrand thing because that would have undermined his case and it's
doubtful I would have come forward to assist the defense because I didn't
know Clay Shaw and it wouldn't have benefitted me to do so. Besides, I was
locked up in the La. penal system between August 10, 1962 and June 28,
1968, first at Angola then at L.C.I.S. at DeQuincy. So, that's my little
connection to the JFK case. Incidentally, I would be glad to fax you old
news clippings of my arrest for murder, which also mentions my previous
arrest in the knifing, but that doesn't really prove anything except that
I was in New Orleans during the time I say I was sent to Dean Andrews by
Gene Davis. It certainly doesn't advance any conspiracy theory. Thanks
for your interest. Bill Livesay
Subject: Re: Kennedy Assassination
Date: 28 Dec 2000 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: 72.660e994.277b610f@aol.com
Newsgroups: alt.assassination.jfk