JFK THE BIGAMIST ... THE TRUTH AT LAST

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Jul 27, 1997 | by Terry O'Hanlon

The plumber cursed out loud as the plaster began crumbling off the wall as he carried out a routine job at the old country house.

Minutes later he was speechless.

Behind the rotten plasterboard was a secret hideaway.

Inside was a dust-covered box full of papers tied with red ribbons.

The house belonged to Lawrence X. Cusack, the personal and private lawyer to assassinated US President John F. Kennedy.

And what the plumber had stumbled upon were over 300 documents sealed away by Cusack before his own death.

Documents which today finally end the decades of rumours about JFK, his murdered brother Bobby - and the two men's relationship with tragic screen goddess Marilyn Monroe.

They reveal that:

JFK was a bigamist. He married Palm Beach socialite Durie Malcolm in 1939 - and was still married to her when he wed Jackie in 1953. In fact, although JFK and Durie were granted an annulment by the Catholic Church they never got a civil divorce, and JFK remained a bigamist to the day he died.

Monroe had affairs with Jack Kennedy AND his brother Bobby.

She was blackmailing the President, demanding a ONE-MILLION- DOLLAR trust fund or she would tell all about their affair - and JFK's friendship with Mafia boss Sam Giancana.

The day before Monroe was found dead from an alleged drug overdose aged 36 she had threatened to call a Press conference and tell the world about her affairs with both JFK and his brother.

The documents - which include dozens of letters between JFK, Bobby Kennedy, Monroe and Cusack - also confirm that JFK and Monroe were party guests of mobster Giancana and that FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover warned JFK that the revelation could ruin his political career.

One US legal expert said last night: "These documents are the missing pieces to the puzzle which proves that America's greatest- ever film star and our most-beloved President ever were involved in a lengthy secret romance that would have rocked the world on its ear.

"After years of speculation, the truth has finally been brought to light and all the countless questions about Marilyn and JFK are now answered."

The 300 documents were unearthed in 1994. They were in a box labelled "Campaign 1959-1960".

In addition to the signed breach of promise contract between Monroe and Kennedy, the box contained tear-stained letters from Monroe to JFK, begging him not to cut off all contact with her.

Also in the box were notes from JFK to Cusack about problems he was having with Monroe, Giancana and FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover.

In the notes, a desperate JFK reveals his fears that Hoover will blow the whistle on the fact that he was a bigamist when he married Jacqueline.

The trove of documents included a copy of JFK's first marriage certificate to Durie Malcolm.

FBI chief Hoover also knew that JFK was a bigamist.

Rumours of JFK's marriage in 1939 to Durie Malcolm first surfaced in 1962.

The Cusack documents establish that Cardinal Cushing obtained a Church annulment for him.

The Kennedys are probably the most important and powerful family in the Catholic Church anywhere in the world.

The annulment was done quietly so as to avoid any public scandal.

It meant that in the eyes of the Church JFK and Malcolm were no longer married.

But to avoid the publicity JFK never got a civil divorce.

The papers therefore prove that Kennedy was a bigamist when he married Jacqueline - and that he remained so until his death.

In one note to Cusack JFK expresses his fears over the fact that both his problems with Monroe and his divorce dilemma are still ongoing. He even makes references to the further complications of Monroe taking it upon herself to help JFK sort out his need for a civil divorce from Malcolm, writing:

"Larry, I think this needs to be resolved before meet on resolution of divorce/annulment problems. I am afraid this is a new problem not foreseen. MM has information on the divorce problems and Church plans. Jack"

Much of the material is hand-written notes by JFK to Cusack - some of it is on White House stationery.

The world was stunned when Marilyn was found dead at her home from an apparent drug overdose on August 4, 1962.

Just eight weeks before she had sung Happy Birthday to JFK at Madison Square Garden. The following year Kennedy was shot dead.

It has long been rumoured that Monroe's death may have been linked to her affairs with JFK and his brother Bobby.

Though Monroe's death was recorded as suicide from an overdose of barbiturates, it has always been thought that she may have been murdered by someone close to the Kennedys or an associate of Giancana in an attempt to frame JFK.

The documents reveal that JFK and Monroe began their affair in 1953 - five months after he married Jacqueline Kennedy.

At the time Monroe was in the process of ending her marriage to playwright Arthur Miller.

The love-letters from Monroe to JFK reveal the heartbreak the actress suffered at the hands of her married lover - a ruthless politician who was determined to save his reputation at all costs.

JFK was an extremely charismatic man and Monroe fell head over heels in love with him.