The Strange Death of Vince Foster

 

(Here are notes I made while reading the book of this title by Christopher Ruddy. These notes involve basic evidence of the death itself. There are many more suspicious events and facts involving the White House response after the death—even the time the White House was notified is very much in dispute. We know that files were removed from Foster’s office that night, although the office was supposed to be under Park Police seal. What was removed and where it went, will likely remain unknown.—Eric Anderson)

 

"There are few facts of the 'official' Foster case that are not in serious dispute. Almost four years after Vince Foster died, we have few answers about where he died, where he was found, or how he died. Much evidence has been mysteriously lost or simply altered. Testimony on which the case is supposedly based is frequently contradictory, occasionally blatantly false. And those tasked with the burden of finding the answers seem strangely complacent." --Christopher Ruddy

 

1. Testimony of EMT workers who first reached the body gives a location different than the official Park Police version.

 

2. Many police photos of the crime scene disappeared. Some 35mm photos were unusable due to poor processing at the lab. Of the photos that remain, none show the body in relation to surrounding landmarks (only closeups of various parts of Foster's body against the immediate background). But these remaining photos show vegetation that is not present at the "official" location of the body as detailed in the Park Police and Fiske reports. Many witnesses describe the location of the body as in "heavy vegetation," seen in the crime scene Polaroids. But the "official location" is a barren dirt path with only tree roots visible above the soil line.

 

3. When FBI wanted to analyze crime scene photos, which were Polaroids, they took Polaroid copies of the original Polaroids, then made 35mm copies of the Polaroid copies, enlarged those and used computer enhancement. In other words, instead of working with original photos (first generation), they computer enhanced third generation copies. Much detail is lost in each successive generation of copying, especially copying the original Polaroids with a Polaroid. Why this procedure, if not to obscure detail?

 

4. Six colors of carpet fibers and some blond hairs were found on Foster's clothing: shoes, pants, underwear, jacket, and tie. The jacket and tie were found in Foster's car and were bagged separately, eliminating possibility of cross contamination. No attempt was made to match these fibers to White House carpets or carpets in his home or other locations Foster would have been. No attempt was made to find the identity of the blond hairs.

 

5. To get to the site where Foster is officially said to have been found, or the site where EMT workers claimed he was discovered, Foster would have had to walk hundreds of feet over dirt paths and open grassy areas. No dirt or grass stains were found on the bottoms of Foster's shoes. Particles of mica were however detected.

 

6. The gun found in Foster's hand did not match any gun known to have belonged to Foster or his family. It was a Colt .38, a hybrid of parts from two different guns with different serial numbers, made near the turn of the century. Likewise, the bullets matched no ammunition belonging to Foster.

 

7. The barrel of the gun was free of blood or tissue "blowback" that would have occurred had he put the gun in the back of his mouth where the entrance wound was found. Likewise, there was no powder on the tongue, which was removed at autopsy. No other signs of "blowback" were found in the mouth.

 

8. A .38 caliber bullet would normally create a large exit wound on the back of the head. Such a wound was reported at autopsy. However, the physician on the crime scene who pronounced Foster dead described an exit wound at the back of the neck. (He described the path of the bullet as "mouth-to-neck"). That would present a very unusual angle for a suicide.

 

9a. A gun of this caliber should have produced a tremendous spray of blood, brain, and bone coming from the exit wound. No such material was reported in the immediate vicinity of the corpse. Bleeding would normally be profuse and gushing. Yet the workers who bagged Foster to send him to the morgue reported very little blood. Likewise only a trickle of blood was seen coming from mouth and nose. (This is more consistent with a scenario of one being dead before being shot.)

 

9b. A Fiske-ordered FBI "excavation" (Fiske's word) of the scene, which was claimed to have examined the earth around the body to a depth of 18 inches, found no bone fragments or bullet, although many Civil War artifacts were retrieved. However, two witnesses to this Ft. Marcy survey say there was no "excavation," but more of a surface examination. (The lack of finding bone fragments of Foster's skull could indicate that they were searching at the "official" location, which was not the true location of Foster's suicide, or that Foster was dead already when placed in the park.)

 

10. Powder was found on BOTH index fingers of Foster's hands. This would mean an extremely unusual and awkward manner of holding the gun to the mouth, if this was suicide.

 

11. Crime scene witnesses reported the position of the corpse as "laid out as if in a coffin," in other words, straight and neat. This is a strange position for suicide, as limbs normally flail outward and splay haphazardly around the trunk of the body.

 

12. At Ft. Marcy Park, a Park Police officer reported searching Foster's pockets for his car keys and finding none. Later, at the morgue, pockets were re-searched and TWO sets of keys were found, car keys plus another key ring containing other keys. (This may have occurred after Craig Livingstone, White House Security Chief, had access to the body.)

 

13. Foster's appointment book was never found. His secretary reported that shortly before his death he stopped using an appointment book, and kept his appointments exclusively on his computer. Question: Is this a practical arrangement?

 

14. Initial toxicological screen on Foster's blood and urine found no antidepressants. No tests done for "knock-out" drugs or other unusual substances.

 

15. The autopsy report says that X-rays were done. The doctor who performed the autopsy claimed the X-ray machine would not work, and therefore were not done. (Yet, that doctor filled out the autopsy record.) The X-ray machine was new, and subsequent users reported no other trouble with it.

 

16. A note, called a "suicide note" but which does not mention suicide, was reported found in Foster's briefcase many days after his death (after a thorough search of the bag by others) had no fingerprints on it, in spite of the fact it was torn up in over a dozen pieces. (The piece where the signature might have been expected was missing.) How is a piece of paper torn up without leaving fingerprints? Only if the person is wearing gloves...

 

17. Experts in handwriting conclude the note was not written by Foster.

 

18. Two couriers at Rose law firm in Little Rock say they were ordered to shred Foster's files.

 

19. Inexplicable trails of blood on Foster's face. Two thin trails--one from the mouth, and one from the nose, came down the right side of the face toward the neck. Another trail from the nose trailed toward the top of the right ear. This means the body had to assume two different positions after death.

 

20. In the official Park Police version of the location and position of the body, the nose-to-ear trail would have required blood to flow uphill, since the ground where he supposedly lay was at a 45 degree angle, with his head at the top.

 

21. Many violations of routine procedure in the investigation by Park Police. It seems Fiske's team continued to violate routine procedure, such as the failure to interview neighborhood residents and frequent park visitors.

 

22. Fiske's FBI blood analysis found Trazadone (an antidepressant) and Valium (tranquilizer) in Foster's system. Why was the earlier toxicological screen negative?

 

23. Rodriquez (a Starr prosecutor) examined original crime scene Polaroids and enhanced them. He also did special processing on underexposed 35mm Park Police shots that were thought to be "unusable," and was able to recover some images. Found photographic evidence that Foster's had was moved at the crime scene. Also seen was a large "gash with black powdery marks" on the right side of Foster's neck. This was consistent with an EMT worker's observation of a bullet wound on Foster's neck. (The Fiske analysis glossed over this wound, visible in photos, as a smudge of blood, but they used copies of copies of the original photos for their analysis--hence the area was not clear enough to make any judgment.)

 

24. The official Park Police version has Foster's head 8 ft. down from the crest of a berm under the "second cannon." Almost all eyewitnesses describe Foster's head as near the crest of the berm. One officer testified he could see Foster's head from the other side of the open clearing. (The clearing is a large plateau area in the center of Ft. Marcy park which was the actual location of the Fort, with cannons--2 of which still remain--around the perimeter facing outward. Berms slope downward from the edges of this open plateau.)

Also, remember that the early EMT workers report that the body was discovered off to the left of the "first cannon." This area is rich in vegetation, as seen in crime scene photos. The area under the tip of the "second cannon" is a dirt path (with only the roots of trees sticking up along the path)!

 

25. Fisk dismisses the testimony of "Mark and Judy"--park visitors around the time of the Foster incident who were there for a picnic. These witnesses saw two men in and around Foster's Honda. Another witness observed a "Hispanic-looking" man possibly guarding a Honda (in the late afternoon, just prior to the discovery of the body by the Confidential Witness).

 

26. Fiske never interviewed the Park Police SWAT team, which was in Ft. Marcy Park that night (as the investigation of the crime scene was proceeding). Why would a SWAT team be sent for a simple murder or suicide?

 

27. While the Clinton Administration (Janet Reno) was quick to involve the FBI over imagined irregularities in the White House Travel Office, they kept the FBI from playing any significant role in the Roster investigation. The Park Police were given exclusive jurisdiction in a case beyond their capabilities. The day before Foster's death, Clinton fired FBI director William Sessions, leaving the FBI without a director at the crucial time of the investigation of Foster's death. (Sessions had resisted efforts of the Justice Department and the White House to manipulate and influence the FBI, thus was unpopular with the new administration.) By any reasonable standard, Foster's death represented a possible homicide, which falls under federal statute as assassination of presidential staff--such crimes should be under FBI jurisdiction.

 

28. Foster died the very day a warrant was issued to search the offices of David Hale in Little Rock. (Hale was implicated in the Whitewater investigation because he improperly loaned Susan McDougal $300,000, some of which ended up in Whitewater accounts.) No investigation was attempted by Park Police, FBI, or Fiske to check for a possible connection. Senators, in their committee investigation, were not permitted to interview members of the US Attorney's office that issued the warrant. Hale told Fiske’s investigators that Foster called him ten days before his death, but was unable to reach him, and Hale was unable to return the call.

 

29. Questions remain about Vince Foster's depression. Foster's secretary at the White House saw no signs of distress, no changes in him, and on the day of his death he appeared "relaxed and normal." Fiske says there were "obvious signs of weight loss," yet medical records show that Foster had actually gained weight. Mrs. Foster's FBI statement repeatedly uses the word "depression." She said he talked to her about his depression on July 16, a week before his death. Yet, in a subsequent New Yorker interview in 1995, she said she noticed no depression when he was alive, and only saw the signs in retrospect. (The FBI statements may be in doubt. There is some evidence that witness interviews were not properly conducted or were not accurately recorded or logged by the FBI. See following information.) Webb Hubbell's and William Kennedy's initial FBI interviews indicate they were at a loss to explain the "suicide." But later, Hubbell told a Senate hearing in 1995 he had a meeting with White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty to see what they could do to help Foster. This meeting was never mentioned in his FBI statements.

 

30. A list of 3 psychiatrists was found in Foster's wallet. Starr investigators noted the writing on this note did not coincide with the way Foster usually wrote numbers, thus it is suspected he did not write this note. Two of the three psychiatrists on this list claim Foster never contacted them. The third claims to have spoken to Foster's sister, and had waited for a call from Foster, but never received one.

 

31. Two calls were made from the White House on Foster's calling card to a psychiatrist who said Foster never contacted him. This was a local call. Why was a calling card used for a local call? The call could have been made by someone else wanting to establish a record of these calls. A call made in the normal manner of a local call, without a calling card, would not have been recorded.

 

32. Phillip Carroll, a Rose law firm senior litigator and mentor of Foster, told Esquire magazine that Foster was very strong, competent, and he suspected foul play. Carroll told FBI, "Foster handled stress wonderfully." Also reported that Webb Hubbell called him midnight the day of Foster's death and told him, "Don't believe a word you hear. It was not suicide. It couldn't have been." Carroll now believes Foster did commit suicide, But initial statements of doubt by Carroll and Foster's other friends seem to have been expunged from FBI records of witness statements, released by Fiske and the Park Police.

 

33. Grand jury proceedings by Rodriguez (Starr investigator) indicate that testimony from nearly a dozen witnesses show nearly all gave testimony different from what was reported by Fiske's FBI interviewers.

 

34. Paramedic Todd Hall reported seeing a man running away from the crime scene in a red vest. This was dismissed by Fiske and Starr as volunteers who help maintain Ft. Marcy Park. Except that such volunteers do not wear red vests and it is extremely unusual for them to work weeknights. There is no record that such volunteers were in the park that night.

 

35. Patrick Knowlton, the first witness to spot Foster's Honda in the Ft. Marcy parking lot claims the FBI misrepresented his testimony about a "Hispanic looking" man near the car. The FBI says he testified he would not be able to identify the man. Knowlton said not only could he identify the person, he gave full details to create a composite sketch of the man, which was published in the London Telegraph.

 

36. The Confidential Witness (the witness to first see the body in the park and notify park officials) claims the FBI pressured him to change his statement regarding the location where he first saw the body.

 

37. Subpoenaed FBI witness interview notes show discrepancies between the original notes and the official FD302 witness statement forms which are typed up later, based on the interview notes.

 

38. There is substantial disagreement among several police and White House accounts about when the White House was notified of Foster's death. Craig Livingstone, chief of White House security (who resigned in the wake of the Filegate scandal) claims he was notified at 9 PM--this is the official White House story. Yet other witnesses can reliably place notification much earlier, at 8 PM or before. Additionally, two witnesses in Arkansas claim they received calls from the White House at 7 PM Washington time or before.

 

39. After Fiske's report, Starr investigator Rodriguez began a reinvestigation by systematically reviewing 10,000 pages of documents relating to the case. Among the items that stood out were the reports of several witnesses who observed a briefcase in Foster's Honda. Park Police reports contain no mention of a briefcase. If there was a briefcase in Foster's car, it implies it was his intention to meet with someone. Indeed, examination of Foster's stomach contents on autopsy estimated that Foster had eaten less than 2 hours before his death. Although Linda Tripp, who worked in the White House Counsel's office at the time, reported that Foster ate a sandwich before he left the office shortly after noon, apparently Foster ate again. But where, and with whom? (Trivia: Tripp reports that when Foster left the office, he told her there were some M&Ms left in a tray in his office she could finish if she wanted.)

 

40. In January 1995, after considerable effort to convince Starr, Rodriguez was allowed to call witnesses for testimony under oath before a grand jury, something that had not been done in any previous investigations. Under questioning, four emergency workers testified to observing a wound or trauma to Foster's neck.  (This is consistent with enhancements of the original crime scene photos.)  The next week, Park Police were called to testify, and Rodriguez thoroughly questioned them repeatedly on crucial points. The Washington Times reported the police were becoming quite irate after questioning by Rodriguez. At this point in the investigation, Rodriguez's boss slowed down the pace at which witnesses were being called, and limited the kind and depth of questioning allowed. By March, Rodriguez, apparently frustrated that "the fix was in," had resigned from the investigation, and no more witnesses were called. Starr eventually rubber-stamped the Fiske report's conclusions, glossing over any inconsistencies or witness testimony that contradicted the official story.

 

 

No further investigation has been done. House and Senate committees did cursory investigations, and reports were released, along with much documentation, including some FBI records that probably were not intended to be released, but in the confusion that often attends government, were anyway. That documentation was invaluable in uncovering many of the above facts. Nothing adds up. No probable theory of how and why Foster died can be drawn from this jumble of information, except the strong sense that the investigation went awry, and that all parties concerned seemed to have an interest in not digging deeper to resolve the inconsistent evidence and testimony.