Researcher seeks Hoffa grand jury records

Believing there was "prosecutorial misconduct in the case," retired law professor William L. Tabac has asked a federal judge in Nashville, Tennessee, to unseal 45-year-old grand jury records relating to legendary Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa, according to a story by the Associated Press.

Tabac believes the records could show that federal prosecutors and Attorney General Robert Kennedy used illegal means - including wiretaps and improper testimony - to indict Hoffa on jury-tampering charges in the early 1960s. Hoffa (right) was convicted in Chattanooga in 1964.

The former Teamsters leader was last seen in 1975, as he prepared to rejoin the union after serving time in prison. It is widely believed that Hoffa was killed by former allies in the underworld. His remains have not been found.

U.S. attorneys are opposing Tabac's request. They say witnesses need to be confident that grand jury testimony will remain secret. They also argue that Tabac has provided no substantiation for his claim that Hoffa prosecutors acted improperly.

Old JFK files spark new controversy

Files and evidence recently pulled from a long locked safe at the Dallas County district attorney's office has triggered fresh debate over a conspiratorial relationship between Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and Oswald's killer Jack Ruby, according to stories by Jennifer Emily of the Dallas Morning News and Anabelle Garay of the Associated Press.

The files contain a document that presents itself as a transcript of a conversation between Oswald and Ruby on Oct. 4, 1963, weeks before President John F. Kennedy was shot to death in Dallas, Texas. According to the transcript, the two men discussed assassinating the President in order to bring a halt to the Mafia investigations of Attorney General Robert Kennedy, the President's brother. The transcript indicates that Ruby warned Lee not to get caught: "...the boys will make me follow you, wherever you go, and kill you."

Kennedy was shot Nov. 22, 1963, while riding with his wife and Texas Governor John Connally in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Oswald was arrested later that day. Ruby shot Oswald to death while Oswald was being moved by authorities on Nov. 24. Ruby won an appeal of a death sentence but reportedly fell victim to cancer while in custody.

Experts on the JFK assassination believe the transcript to be a fake, part of a package of information intended for a speculative motion picture that was never made. In the same safe was found a 1967 movie contract signed by former Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade.