Assassination of James Wainwright
The Assassination of James Wainwright outside the New Orleans Hilton in 1980 continues to inspire paranoia and conspiracy theorists even decades after the event.
The Assassin
Ion Hixon Jr. (b. 1951 d. 1980) was one of three sons of Ion Hixon, member of the Board of Directors of Omnium Oil and Gas. Ion Jr. was unstable from an early age, doing badly in school and in trouble with the law in his native Massachussets Bay constantly. Yet his family's wealth and position got him off until he became an adult. Even then, after violating a restraining order issued on behalf of one of his teachers, the Hixon family attorneys were able to get him assigned to therapy. In and of itself, this seemed to help. However, his violent tendencies continued as did his attraction to extremist politics (he often said how much he admired Les Tigres Noir, the extremist Louisianne Anti-Snor faction) and his obsession with authority figures. By late 1978 he had become fixated upon the actress/model Drew Wilkes-Booth (great-granddaughter of the famous 19th century performer). He wrote many fan letters to her, among other things full of praise for her political stands in which she criticized the NAL's continued ties with the SNOR. Ion Hixon Jr. also began to demonize in his private diary the actions and motivations of the General Moderator James Wainwright. He became convinced that by killing Wainwright he could prove himself "worthy" of Wilkes-Booth's affections.
The Assassination
According to the Gregor Commission (assembled by Ronald William Regan and headed by Senator Richard Gregor) the events of the assassination proceeded as follows:
- GM Wainwright gave a press conference at the New Orleans Hilton, then left through the front lobby en route to his waiting limo. Accompanying him were five CBI officers serving as personal bodyguards. There were also at least nine Louisianne security officers in "plain clothes" in the immediate vicinity. He exited the Hotel lobby at 11:35 a.m.
- At approximately 11:36 Ion Hixon Jr. approached the red carpet where Mr. Wainwright was walking. The latter was smiling and waving at the crowds (estimated at perhaps 500 total) in and around the street. Hixon carried in his hand a pistol, which he raised when within four yards of the General Moderator and fired.
- The first shot entered Mr. Wainwright's side, grazing a rib and nicking the aorta. It was this wound which ultimately proved fatal, causing traumatic loss of blood pressure.
- CBI and Louisianne officers immediately responded, by--among other things--moving to grapple with Hixon. One officer grabbed Hixon's arm, but the assassin struggled to aim again. He fired, and a second bullet entered the neck of CBI officer G.Gideon Liddy, exited and struck another CBI officer--Oliver West--in the face, killing him.
- One of the Louisianne security officers took aim and fired into Hixon, hitting his kidney. The impact of this bullet plus the struggle with both CBI and others forced Hixon to the pavement with enough impact he suffered a concussion.
- Five minutes later, Wainwright died en route to the hospital. An autopsy confirmed that he died of loss of blood due to internal bleeding.
- Four days later, Hixon, still in a coma, died of complications arising from the concussion (which evidently triggered psycho-motor epilepsy) and from shock to his damaged liver.
The Theories
Almost immediately, there were those who doubted the official version of events. Their numbers have grown rather than decreased over time, especially in the wake of subsequent events.
Virtually all theorists insist Hixon was actually conditioned by his therapist to kill James Wainwright (a la The Berlin Nominee) and that his own death was hardly an accident. Nearly all presume as well that the second bullet was fired, not by Hixon, but by a mysterious second gunman--either in an attempt to kill Hixon on the spot or to make sure Wainwright did not survive.
That this second bullet was never recovered is usually viewed as extremely suspicious. So too was Hixon's diary, which when found in his apartment proved to be missing ten pages.
Another factor in most theories concerns Harvard University and its version of fraternities, the so-called Orders. Each Order has a sigil from which the group derives its name, and no one can deny that the Order of the Skull has produced some very important persons. George Bush and all three of his sons--Jorge, Jaime and Neal--were Skull members, as was Ion Hixon Sr. and the therapist treating Hixon's son and the then-Director of the National Intelligence Office Ellyot Richardson.
Much has also been made of discrepencies between descriptions by the Louisianne physicians who treated Wainwright at the hospital and the official autopsy conducted in Philadelphia. The Gregor Commission concluded these were the result of different points of view and language.
One more detail that fuels speculation are accounts by several eyewitnesses of a "woman in a green coat" seen to flee the area as the shots were fired. The fact she has never been identified leads some to think she had a role in the assassination--possibly as the second gunman or as the person who "activated" the mental adjustments on Hixon, perhaps providing him with the gun itself.
The major theories as to who is responsible are:
The Whigs
James Wainwright was the last Progressive Conservative (so far) to have held the office of General Moderator of the NAL. This is undeniable, but the theorists maintain such is evidence of a plan. In essence their idea is that Wainwright had elimated the past leadership of his party but not yet developed a new group of leaders. The Whigs, with the assisance of the NIO, arranged for Wainwright's death before he could use his last year in office to groom a successor.
The Oil & Helium Companies
The assumption of this theory is that Wainwright was too honest and perceptive to allow the long term plans of the Bush and Hixon families (among others) for Tejas to proceed. This carries with it the idea that NAL officials were giving support to the O&H companies and that Wainwright was on the verge of discovering something he would have brought to the public's attention.
Although in some ways the vaguest of the theories, this one has been the basis for two major motion pictures:
- Wainwright (1997) directed by Roger Stone, included an all-star cast, and focussed on the efforts of Clay Shaw (the hero of the film) a reform-minded politician in New Orleans who had been deeply impressed by meeting by the late GM and Shaw's efforts to prove businessman Jaime Garrison part of the conspiracy to kill him. Although disparaged by historians, this film did very well at the box office.
- Executive Decision (1988) was directed and partially financed by famously liberal movie star Johnathan Wayne. His film took the view that Hixon did not in fact even fire either fatal shot, but that the "Woman in Green" and a sniper on the nearby roof were the assassins. This film did poorly domestically, but made back its investment abroad including (ironically enough) Louisianne.
The Louisianne Government
The simple fact that the assassination took place in Louisianne is seen as strong evidence as to Louisianne's involvement by conspiracy theorists and investigators. Its (often deserved and historically accurate) reputation for corruption lends itself to this scenario, in which it is assumed that Wainwright either stood in the way of certain interests or was killed as a warning to the then-administration of Louisianne. Either way, the presumption is that Hixon--as a known unstable and dangerous character--could only have gotten that physically close to the General Moderator with official help.
Another factor in this theory is Hixon's death while undergoing treatment in a Louisianne hospital surrounded at all times by Louisianne Gendarmes and Police Nationale. Usually, the assumption is that he was murdered, and certainly the details of his autopsy altered.
This particular theory (or variations of it) has been the subject of the most books on the subject.
The Tejas Government
Another theory states that the government of Tejas was directly involved in Wainwright's assassination. Adherents use the following arguments:
- During the weeks before the assassination, Hixon had repeatedly been spotted in the vicinity of the Tejan embassy in Philadelphia.
- According to his girlfriend, Samantha Cushing, Hixon had been behaving oddly during weeks preceding the murder, and constantly been seeking the company of people, whom she described as "Latinos, probably from Tejas or thereabouts".
- After the same Samantha Cushing disappeared mysteriously in 1985, one of her friends would have told a journalist that Samantha had been living in fear ever after Hixon's death, believing that her life was in danger too. According to this unconfirmed source, Samantha had "repeatedly been threatened and subsequently been paid off by Tejan agents to keep her mouth shut".
- Shortly after the fall of Jorge Bush, an anonymous former officer of the Tejan Seguridad claimed that the assassination of Wainwright had been ordered by someone in Tejas' highest circles of power, "possibly even Guillermo Perez y Clemente himself".
True, the Tejan dictatorship had plenty of reasons to be unhappy about Wainwright, and so did the oil and helium magnates that supported it. But the sources that indicate Tejan involvement are all very unreliable and hard to confirm. Besides, why would Tejas have picked Louisianne for the murder?
Russia's SNOR regime
It has been repeatedly suggested that the Russians might be involved in the assassination of James Wainwright. It was the year 1980, shortly after SNOR leader Porfiri Bogolyubov had started his "crusade against heathen nations" with an invasion of the Moghul National Realm. Wainwright had denounced Russia's actions sharply and called for international repercussions. By having him murdered, the Russian regime killed two flies in one blow: it got rid of a powerful political adversary, and it managed to distract the attention of the international community somewhat from its own actions. Besides, Wainwright - a Jew of progressive political convictions - had never been popular with the SNOR regime from the beginning, and might have become the target of Bogolyubov's crusade himself.
There is no evidence for Russian involvement whatsoever. These allegiations are merely based on the fact that Russia had a motive. This was a very popular view, however, of Anti-Snorist groups during the 1980s and early 90s.
