Clay LaVerne Shaw Biography

Clay Lavergne Shaw was born in Kentwood, Louisiana, on March 17, 1913.

By 1920, Shaw's family had moved from Kentwood to New Orleans, where he spent much of his youth.

Shaw graduated from Warren Easton High School in New Orleans in 1928.

Shaw worked for Western Union in New Orleans before the company later transferred him to New York City.

Western Union transferred Shaw from New Orleans to New York City in 1935.

Shaw enlisted in the United States Army in 1942 during the Second World War.

The Army promoted Shaw to second lieutenant in 1943 after his wartime enlistment.

Shaw served as aide-de-camp to General Charles Thrasher during the Second World War.

While serving with General Thrasher, Shaw helped support organizational and supply work connected with the D-Day invasion.

Shaw received the Bronze Star for his service in the United States Army during the Second World War.

France awarded Shaw the Croix de Guerre for his wartime military service.

Shaw received the Legion of Merit for his United States Army service during the Second World War.

Before the end of the Second World War, Shaw was promoted to the rank of major.

Shaw was discharged from the United States Army in 1946 after completing his wartime service.

After his Army discharge, Shaw returned to New Orleans and resumed his civilian career.

Shaw became managing director of the developing International Trade Mart in New Orleans after returning from military service.

Under Shaw's management, the International Trade Mart opened its first location in 1948.

At the International Trade Mart, Shaw helped expand commercial relationships between New Orleans and Latin American companies.

Shaw helped secure financing for the major International Trade Mart building project in New Orleans.

Shaw worked to attract tenants needed for the planned International Trade Mart building.

Shaw helped advance development of the thirty-three-story International Trade Mart Building as part of his long business career.

Shaw participated in preservation work involving the historic Audubon Cottages on Dauphine Street in the French Quarter.

Shaw supported restoration of the historic Spanish Stables complex on Governor Nicholls Street in New Orleans.

Shaw retired from the International Trade Mart in 1965 after years as one of its leading administrators.

Jim Garrison resumed his Kennedy assassination investigation in November 1966, eventually directing attention toward Clay Shaw.

Garrison first interviewed Shaw in connection with the renewed assassination investigation in December 1966.

After a hearing on Shaw's request, the state court continued the conspiracy case until February 1968.

Garrison's office located Perry Russo after a newspaper article quoted Russo making statements concerning David Ferrie.

Assistant District Attorney Andrew Sciambra interviewed Perry Russo in Baton Rouge before Russo became the prosecution's principal witness against Shaw.

The three-judge panel ruled that sufficient evidence had been presented to continue the conspiracy prosecution against Shaw.

Louisiana presented four witnesses at Shaw's preliminary hearing as prosecutors attempted to establish probable cause for the assassination conspiracy charge.

A three-judge state panel began Shaw's preliminary hearing on March 14, 1967, to determine whether probable cause supported the conspiracy charge.

At the preliminary hearing, Perry Russo testified that Shaw, Oswald, and Ferrie had participated in a discussion about killing President Kennedy.

Vernon Bundy testified at Shaw's preliminary hearing that he had seen Shaw conversing with Oswald near Lake Pontchartrain.

The Orleans Parish grand jury indicted Shaw for conspiracy to murder President Kennedy on March 22, 1967.

Louisiana prosecutors moved on August 1, 1967, to have a trial date selected in the case against Shaw.

On September 27, 1967, Shaw requested a continuance or a change of venue because of concerns surrounding the prosecution.

Shaw formally sought a change of venue on February 19, 1968, citing the extensive publicity surrounding the case.

The trial court conducted an extensive evidentiary hearing on Shaw's request to move the conspiracy trial away from New Orleans.

The Criminal District Court denied Shaw's change-of-venue motion on April 4, 1968.

The Louisiana Supreme Court denied Shaw's application for review of the venue decision on April 23, 1968.

Shaw filed a federal lawsuit on May 27, 1968, seeking to stop the state conspiracy prosecution.

A temporary federal restraining order was issued on May 28, 1968, while Shaw's request to halt the state prosecution was considered.

A three-judge federal court considered Shaw's constitutional challenges to the pending state conspiracy prosecution in 1968.

The end result of Garrisons investigation was the arrest and trial of New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw in 1969

The appellate record later described Shaw's conspiracy prosecution as a forty-day trial culminating in his March 1969 acquittal.

CIA monitors and responds to Jim Garrison's New Orleans investigation.

Later records link Shaw to CIA Domestic Contacts Service reporting.

The nature of this project is still classified; what little information there is suggests that those cleared for the project may possibly have been "unwitting," and that it may have been related to gathering information from businessmen

At the party, Russo said that Lee Harvey Oswald (who Russo said was introduced to him as "Leon Oswald"), David Ferrie, and "Clem Bertrand" (who Russo identified in the courtroom as Clay Shaw) had discussed killing Kennedy.

Clay Shaw, the man Garrison charged with conspiracy in the JFK murder, testified under oath "No, I have not" to the question "Mr. Shaw

During Shaws trial Russos testimony was discredited by the revelation that he underwent hypnosis and had been administered sodium pentathol, or "truth serum," at the request of the persecution.

During the trial, Russo testified that he had attended an "assassination party" at David Ferries apartment, where Shaw, Ferrie, and Lee Harvey Oswald had discussed killing President Kennedy.

Later records link Shaw to CIA Domestic Contacts Service reporting.

The conversation included plans for the "triangulation of crossfire" and alibis for the participants. Russo claimed in September, 1963, he overheard Shaw and David Ferrie discussing the proposed assassination of John F. Kennedy.

The jury didnt see enough evidence to convict Shaw, and gave a verdict of not guilty. Russo testifies that he had attended a party at the apartment of anti-Castro activist David Ferrie.

the period 1948 to 1956

Shaw is acquitted less than one hour after the case went to the jury

On March 3, 1969, Garrison signed an information charging Shaw with perjury based on testimony Shaw had given during the conspiracy trial.

On the scheduled date of his perjury trial, Shaw sought a federal restraining order to stop Garrison from proceeding with the prosecution.

A federal district court permanently barred Garrison's office from continuing the pending perjury prosecution against Shaw on May 27, 1971.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the injunction protecting Shaw from further prosecution on the perjury charge.

Death of Clay Shaw

Shaw was engaged in a $5 million suit against Garrison and members of an organization, Truth and Consequences Inc., that financed Garrisons investigation. With no surviving relatives, the United States Supreme Court dismissed the suit in 1978

Shaw's family donated his papers to the National Archives, creating an archival collection documenting his finances, writings, trial, and acquittal.