Clinton Body Count-Clinton friends who've ended up dead-Truth! and Fiction!

The People President Clinton Didn't Have to Pardon...Because They're All Dead-Truth! & Fiction!

Summary of the eRumor: This a list of people associated with Bill Clinton...all of whom have died, some of them under mysterious circumstances.

Note: Our research on some of this story is still continuing, but because of the number of requests, we are posting what we have. Check back for updates. The Truth: This has also become known as "Clinton's Body Count." We'll go through the entire list and evaluate each one, but it is true that some of them had some connection with Bill Clinton, or with someone who was in Clinton's sphere, and that many of them died violently or by suicide. That raises the question of whether their deaths were related and whether any of the deaths can be linked in any way to Bill Clinton. There is no credible evidence that any of the deaths is related or can be attributed to Bill Clinton. Some of the descriptions of the deaths are not accurate. According to a May 5, 2000 article in the Arkansas Times, the "Body Count" list originated on an Internet site in 1994 run by an Indianapolis lawyer named Linda Thompson of the American Justice Federation. It has been circulating ever since. The list came up in sworn testimony that White House employee Linda Tripp gave to Judicial Watch chairman Larry Klayman in December, 1998. Trip testified that a hand-written list of people who were involved with Clinton and who had suffered mysterious deaths ended up on her office chair in the White House. This was just before the sex scandal between White House Intern Monica Lewinsky and President Clinton became known publicly. Tripp said that the list was accompanied by a note that said, "Linda, just thought you'd find this of interest." One important comment. There are many well-known historical events that are surrounded by unanswered questions. A lack of answers to the questions doesn't mean that the questions are meaningless or that new facts couldn't be found. It is easier to come up with questions, however, than to come up with answers, and if we are to come to any conclusions, it should be based on evidence, not just the fact that questions exist. Unless otherwise specified, the information has been confirmed from multiple published sources such as USA Today, CNN, The Associated Press, or other general media. Let's go through the names one-by-one. Please note that the Truth! or Fiction! designations refer only to whether the stories are factual and have nothing to do with any criminal connection to Bill Clinton.

eRumor James McDougal - Clinton's convicted Whitewater partner died of an apparent heart attack, while in solitary confinement. He was a key witness in Ken Starr's investigation.
The Truth: James McDougal died on Sunday, March 8, 1998 in John Petersmith Hospital in Ft. Worth, Texas. He had been serving a federal prison sentence for fraud in connection with the Whitewater land deal. At first, he claimed to be innocent, but after being convicted of 18 felony counts, he cooperated with Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr's investigation of the Clintons. He was scheduled to give damaging testimony against the Clintons, although critics of the investigation say his testimony had previously been inconsistent and that nothing new was expected to be revealed. A prison spokesman said McDougal died of a heart attack and had been suffering from heart disease and blocked arteries.

eRumor Mary Mahoney - A former White House intern was murdered July 1997 at a Starbucks Coffee Shop in Georgetown. The murder happened just after she was to go public with her story of sexual harassment in the White House.
The Truth: Mary Caitrin Mahoney was murdered over the July 4th weekend in 1997 at the Georgetown Starbucks near Washington D.C.. She was the assistant manager and, according to published reports, she and two other employees were working late at night after the coffee bar had closed. All three were found shot to death. No money was taken and there was no sign of forced entry. In 1999, Carl Derick Cooper was charged with the murders, six armed robberies, and other shootings. Mahoney had interned for the White House official responsible for contact with the Asian-American community. TruthOrFiction.com has not found any documentation that she was about to "go public with her story of sexual harassment in the White House" or that her death was anything beyond that of a murder associated with the robbery. A report in The Washington Weekly explains that journalist Mike Isikoff had written that "a former White House staffer" with the initial "M" in her name was going to go public with a sexual harassment story and people speculated he meant Mary Mahoney and that was why she was killed. Later, it turned out that he was referring to Monica Lewinsky.

eRumor Vince Foster - Former white House councilor, and colleague of Hillary Clinton at Little Rock's Rose Law firm. Died of a gunshot wound to the head, ruled a suicide.
The Truth: Vince Foster was Deputy White House Counsel and the Clinton's lawyer. He was found dead in Fort Marcy Park on July 20, 1993. Three investigations into Foster's death, including one by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, have concluded that the death was a suicide. Critics of the investigations say Foster's death does not fit the facts of a suicide and that there are a lot of unanswered questions about his death, some of the activities at the White House after his body was found, and the investigations themselves. Although there are numerous theories about what may have happened to Foster and why, none of them has been proven.

eRumor Ron Brown - Secretary of Commerce and former DNC Chairman. Reported to have died by impact in a plane crash. A pathologist close to the investigation reported that there was a hole in the top of Brown's skull resembling a gunshot wound. At the time of his death Brown was being investigated, and spoke publicly of his willingness to cut a deal with prosecutors.
The Truth: Brown and 34 others died on April 3, 1996 when the Air Force jet carrying crashed into a mountainside in Croatia. The Air Force, in a 22-volume report issued in June of 1996, confirmed its initial judgment that the crash resulted from pilot errors and faulty navigation equipment. Subsequent controversy erupted, however, over autopsy photos. There is a hole in Ron Brown's skull which investigators say is consistent with a puncture that could have been caused by debris during the crash. Investigative reporter Christopher Ruddy came forward with an article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in which he quoted Air Force pathologist, Lt. Col. Steve Cogswell as saying that the hole was perfectly round shape of a 45 caliber bullet. Cogswell had not actually examined the body. Later, another pathologist, Army Lt. Col. David Hause, said he had been working nearby the Ron Brown autopsy, overheard discussion about the round hole, walked over and looked at it and said it seemed like a bullet hole to him. Air Force Col. William Gormley, the pathologist who actually did the Ron Brown autopsy, said, however, that it is more of an indentation than a hole and that if there had been a bullet, there would have been either an exit wound or a bullet found in the body, and there were not. The Justice Department had opened an investigation into Brown's financial dealings.

eRumor C. Victor Raiser II - & - Montgomery Raiser, Major players in the Clinton fund raising organization died in a private plane crash in July1992.
The Truth: On July 30, 1992, Victor and Montgomery Raiser were killed in a plane crash while on a fishing trip in Alaska. He was a Washington lawyer and described as a "major player" in the Clinton organization. Investigation of the crash by the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that it was the result of pilot error. Some "body count" lists have removed the Raiser's names because there is not any evidence that their death was the result of foul play.

eRumor Paul Tulley - Democratic National Committee Political Director found dead in a hotel room in Little Rock, September 1992. Described by Clinton as a "Dear friend and trusted advisor".
The Truth: His name was spelled "Tully" and he was a top strategist for the Democrats and working with the Clinton campaign. He died of massive heart failure in a Little Rock motel room. There has been no controversy over his death that we could find.
eRumor Ed Willey - Clinton fund raiser, found dead November 1993 deep in the woods in VA of a gunshot wound to the head. Ruled a suicide. Ed Willey died on the same day his wife Kathleen Willey claimed Bill Clinton groped her in the oval office in the White House. Ed Willey was involved in several Clinton fund raising events.
The Truth: According to published reports, Ed Willey was an attorney who owed the IRS $400,000 and had embezzled nearly $270,000 from one of his clients. The Willey's financial woes were a source of stress between Ed Willey and Kathleen Willey and she finally demanded a plan that would bring it to an end. There was a stormy family meeting about it on the night of November 28, 1993 and Ed Willey moved out of the house. The next day is when Kathleen Willey went to the White House to see Bill Clinton about a job. She says the president assaulted her during that visit. It was later discovered that Ed Willey had driven into the woods on the same day. His body was found by hunters on November 30, 1993. Authorities ruled his death a suicide by shotgun. There was a suicide note apologizing for the financial problems.

eRumor Jerry Parks - Head of Clinton's gubernatorial security team in Little Rock. Gunned down in his car at a deserted intersection outside Little Rock. Park's son said his father was building a dossier on Clinton. He allegedly threatened to reveal this information. After he died the files were mysteriously removed from his house.
The Truth: Jerry Luther Parks was the head of security for the Clinton-Gore Little Rock headquarters in 1992. On September 26, 1996, he was murdered down while driving through a Little Rock intersection. A lone gunman fired seven shots at him. This was two months after Vince Foster's death. Both Parks' wife and son have said that they believe Parks was murdered and that he feared for his life. His murder has never been solved. According to Gary Parks, Jerry Parks' son, the files were on the sexual escapades of Bill Clinton. They were not removed from Parks' house after his death. According to investigative reporter Christopher Ruddy, the files that Parks had been keeping on Clinton were taken during a burglary several weeks before Parks' death. Clyde Steelman, the homicide sergeant investigating the murders for the Little Rock Police told New York Times Magazine writer Philip Weiss that he didn't believe the theories of Parks' son and wife and that he'd found no evidence of the alleged files.

eRumor James Bunch - Died from a gunshot suicide. It was reported that he had a "Black Book" of people which contained names of influential people who visited prostitutes in Texas and Arkansas.
The Truth: We have yet to find the details on this person.

eRumor James Wilson - Was found dead in May 1993 from an apparent hanging suicide. He was reported to have ties to Whitewater.
The Truth: He was known as John Wilson, a popular leader and political figure in the Washington D.C. area and Chairman of the District of Columbia Council. He was found dead on May 19,1993. Authorities ruled Wilson's death a suicide by hanging. According to numerous articles in the Washington Post, Wilson had long suffered from depression and had twice before attempted suicide. TruthOrFiction.com has found no evidence that he had any information about the Clintons or any ties to Whitewater.

eRumor Kathy Ferguson, ex-wife of Arkansas Trooper Danny Ferguson, was found dead in May 1994, in her living room with a gunshot to her head. It was ruled a suicide even though there were several packed suitcases, as if she were going somewhere. Danny Ferguson was a co-defendant along with Bill Clinton in the Paula Jones lawsuit. Kathy Ferguson was a possible corroborating witness for Paula Jones.
The Truth: Kathy Ferguson was found dead on May 11, 1994, five days after Paula Jones filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton. She died of a gunshot wound to the head and a suicide note was found. Her ex-husband was Arkansas Trooper Danny Ferguson, one of those named in the so-called "Troopergate" cases involving those who had been a part of then Governor Clinton's security detail. He was named in Paula Jones' suit. According to an Associated Press article on May 14, 1993, she was found not in her living room, however, but in the apartment of her boyfriend, Sherwood police officer Bill Shelton. The suicide note said, "I can't stay here any longer. Things will never be the same for us. I can't take that."

eRumor Bill Shelton - Arkansas State Trooper and fiancee of Kathy Ferguson.Critical of the suicide ruling of his fiancee, he was found dead in June, 1994 of a gunshot wound also ruled a suicide at the grave site of his fiancee.
The Truth: Thirty-one year old Bill Shelton was police officer in Sherwood, Arkansas, and engaged to Kathy Ferguson. It was in his apartment that she was found dead. He was one of many of her friends who felt that Ferguson did not commit suicide and that the coroner's report was not accurate about her wound being self-inflicted. He was found a month later sprawled over her grave with a gunshot wound to his head that was similar to what the coroner had described as Ferguson's wound.

eRumor Gandy Baugh - Attorney for Clinton's friend Dan Lassater, died by jumping out a window of a tall building January, 1994. His client was a convicted drug distributor.
The Truth: Gandy Baugh jumped out of a window of a multi-story building and died on January 8, 1994. Published reports say he was defending a man named Dan Lassater in a financial misconduct case. Lassater was an associate of Bill Clinton's who was convicted of cocaine distribution.

eRumor Florence Martin - Accountant & sub-contractor for the CIA, was related to the Barry Seal Mena Airport drug smuggling case. He died of three gunshot wounds.
The Truth: This is an interesting one. Many of the "Body Count" lists say Florence Martin was killed in Mabelle, Texas in 1994. That Florence Martin, however, was a 69 year old employee of a nearby convenience store and a spokesperson for the Baylor County, Texas District Attorney's office says she had nothing to do with Bobby Seal, Mena, Arkansas, or the CIA. We're still working on it.

eRumor Suzanne Coleman - Reportedly had an affair with Clinton when he was Arkansas Attorney General. Died of a gunshot wound to the back of the head, ruled a suicide. Was pregnant at the time of her death.
The Truth: Still working on this one.

eRumor Paula Grober - Clinton's speech interpreter for the deaf from 1978 until her death December 9, 1992. She died in a one car accident.
The Truth: No evidence that there was anything criminal about her death.

eRumor Danny Casolaro - Investigative reporter. Investigating Mena Airport and Arkansas Development Finance Authority. He slit his wrists, apparently, in the middle of his investigation.
The Truth: Forty-four year old Danny Casolaro was found dead in the Sheraton hotel in Martinsburg, West Virginia on August 10, 1991. His wrists had been slashed. According to an October 14, 1991 People Magazine story on his death, he had warned friends and family that his life was in danger. He said it was because of what he called "the story of the century" but it was not about Bill Clinton. It was about the Regan-Bush administration and an alleged effort to delay the freeing of the hostages being held at the time by Iran in order to do damage to President Jimmy Carter's reelection bid. Casolaro was told that as a part of the effort, drugs and weapons were being flown into and out of the airport at Mena, Arkansas. Bill Clinton was governor at the time and there have been numerous questions about whether Clinton was in any way involved in any of the activities connected with Mena or protected those who were involved.

eRumor Paul Wilcher - Attorney investigating corruption at Mena Airport with Casolaro and the 1980 "October Surprise" was found dead on a toilet June 22, 1993 in his Washington DC apartment. Had delivered a report to Janet Reno 3 weeks before his death.
The Truth: In his report to Attorney General Reno, Wilcher said that he was in grave danger and that if the information he had for the Attorney General fell into the wrong hands, there could be people "silenced in the very near future."

eRumor Jon Parnell Walker - Whitewater investigator for Resolution TrustCorp. Jumped to his death from his Arlington, Virginia apartment balcony August15, 1993. He was investigating the Morgan Guarantee scandal.
The Truth: undetermined

eRumor Barbara Wise - Commerce Department staffer. Worked closely with Ron Brown and John Huang. Cause of death unknown. Died November 29, 1996. Her bruised, nude body was found locked in her office at the Department of Commerce.
The Truth: According to a report on WRC-TV in the Washington area, Wise's body was found in a locked office and was partly nude and bruised. The crime has never been solved. There has not been any evidence that her death was related to any of the Ron Brown or John Huang events.

eRumor Charles Meissner - Assistant Secretary of Commerce who gave John Huang special security clearance, died shortly thereafter in a small plane crash.
The Truth: Charles Meissner was not killed in a small plane crash but was among those killed along with Commerce Secretary Ron Brown in the crash of an Air Force plane in Croatia in 1996.

eRumor Dr. Stanley Heard - Chairman of the National Chiropractic Health Care Advisory Committee died with his attorney Steve Dickson in a small plane crash. Dr. Heard, in addition to serving on Clinton's advisory council personally treated Clinton's mother, stepfather and brother.
The Truth: According to the National Transportation and Safety Board, the crash was due to "AN INADEQUATE ANNUAL INSPECTION OF THE AIRPLANE AND NON-COMPLIANCE WITH AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVES BY COMPANY MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL." The NTSB says the airplane caught fire in the air and crashed while the pilot attempted to make an emergency landing. There is no evidence that we can find that links the crash or Dr. Stanley heard to any criminal.

eRumor Barry Seal - Drug running pilot out of Mena Arkansas, death was no accident Johnny Lawhorn Jr. - Mechanic, found a check made out to Bill Clinton in the trunk of a car left at his repair shop. He was found dead after his car had hit a utility pole.
The Truth: Several books could be written about Barry Seal. He was a danger-loving pilot who was regarded as the best known cocaine smuggler of the 1980's. He did not die in a car accident. He was murdered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1986 by three men with machine guns and who were later arrested and convicted. They were Colombians and authorities say they were connected with the Medellin drug cartel. The Attorney General of Louisiana told U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese in 1986 that Seal smuggled $3 to $5 billion worth of drugs into the U.S. In 1981, Seal began running his smuggling operation out of a highly guarded and, for a while, secret airport in Mena, Arkansas. That airport and Seal's activities were to become a part of the investigation into the Iran-Contra controversy from the Reagan administration. There have been questions of whether Bill Clinton, who was governor of Arkansas at the time, may have looked the other way if he knew about the drug smuggling operation, but there has not been proof of that.

eRumor Stanley Huggins - Investigated Madison Guarantee. His death was a purported suicide and his report was never released. Hershell Friday - Attorney and Clinton fund raiser died March 1, 1994 when his plane exploded.
The Truth: Saying that his plane exploded is misleading. According to the NTSB, it crashed, but without any explosion prior to the crash or causing the crash.


eRumor Kevin Ives & Don Henry - Known as "The boys on the track" case. Reports say the boys may have stumbled upon the Mena Arkansas airport drug operation. A controversial case, the initial report of death said, due to falling asleep on railroad tracks. Later reports claim the 2 boys had been slain before being placed on the tracks. Many linked to the case died before their testimony could come before a Grand Jury.
The Truth: This is one of the stories out of Arkansas that has a lot of people asking very tough questions. It is a story that is often told, however, as though it has something to do with Bill Clinton, but no Clinton connection has been established, especially with the boy's deaths. The most notable aspect of the event was that the authorities originally treated the boy's death as an accident, but it was later clear that they had been killed and their bodies placed on the tracks. Some have said the boys innocently found the secret Mena drug trafficking activities and were killed to keep them silenced. Others have said that the boys discovered a local cocaine dealing operation and were killed by drug dealers.

eRumor THE FOLLOWING PERSONS HAD INFORMATION ON THE IVES/HENRY CASE: Keith Coney - Died when his motorcycle slammed into the back of a truck, 7/88. Keith McMaskle - Died stabbed 113 times, Nov, 1988 Gregory Collins - Died from a gunshot wound January 1989. Jeff Rhodes - He was shot, mutilated and found burned in a trash dump in April 1989. James Milan - Found decapitated. However, the Coroner ruled his death was due to "natural causes". Jordan Kettleson - Was found shot to death in the front seat of his pickup truck in June 1990. Richard Winters - A suspect in the Ives / Henry deaths. He was killed in a set-up robbery July 1989. THE FOLLOWING CLINTON BODYGUARDS ARE DEAD: Major William S. Barkley Jr. Captain Scott J. Reynolds Sgt. Brian Hanley Sgt. Tim Sabel Major General William Robertson Col. William Densberger Col. Robert Kelly Spec. Gary Rhodes Steve Willis Robert Williams Conway LeBleu Todd McKeehan
The Truth: We haven't confirmed all of these, but as stated above, there isn't any evidence the Henry and Ives case is connected to Bill Clinton.