James Hall appeared in the Realm of Marilyn during August of 1982, as I previously denoted, just as the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office began its threshold re-investigation into Marilyn’s death. Apparently at some point prior to 1982, he left Los Angeles and relocated to another city. Which city is unclear; but indications are that he eventually settled in Salt Lake City, Utah. There are indications, also, that he spent some time in Las Vegas, Nevada, a city where, according to public service announcements, what happens there, stays there; but then, I digress.

Before proceeding with James Hall’s incredible story, and the account of it offered by Margolis and Buskin, I must note that Hall also materialized as a witness during KTLA’s 1992 docudrama, The Marilyn Files, as an essential and shocking witness. Ten years ago a man came forward with a shocking story, announced Jane Wallace, one of the programs co-hosts. The story told by this witness could account for many of the mysterious events the night Marilyn died. The key word here is could, Wallace cautioned, for this witness has had his credibility called into question. Ms. Wallace’s admission and caution was certainly forthright and valid.

The former ambulance driver and attendant repeated his now well-known story, how he and his partner arrived at Fifth Helena, how they found Marilyn in serious condition but still alive and how they began what appeared would be successful resuscitation efforts, that is, until Dr. Greenson arrived.

What Hall asserted during his 1992 television appearance contained the yarn’s fundamental structure without deviation; but, as usual, his story also contained variations. For instance, Hall informed Donald Wolfe that a hysterical woman was giving us trouble. She was trying to climb over us to get to Miss Monroe while I was working on her. She was screaming […] hampering what we were doing (Wolfe 92). The hysterical woman, according to Hall, was Pat Newcomb. That detail, a hysterical Pat Newcomb’s presence when Dr. Greenson stabbed Marilyn in her heart, was not mentioned by James Hall in his 1992 television testimony; and even though Jay Margolis and Richard Buskin noted that a hysterical Pat Newcomb was present when Dr. Greenson committed homicide, they did not indicate that she was attempting to hysterically climb over James Hall as he worked on a nearly dead Marilyn Monroe. I can only assume that Hall did not relate that detail to Margolis and Buskin, for certainly they would have repeated it. Incidentally, Pat Newcomb consistently denied Hall’s allegations and dismissed his story as a fabrication; but during the many passing years following Marilyn’s death, Pat Newcomb has been often criticized and discredited because she has refused to use her association with Marilyn Monroe to enrich herself, meaning, of course, that she must have been involved in the plot to silence the loose lipped actress.

I could continue exposing Hall’s omissions and contradictions for a few more paragraphs, delineate the many contradictions and variations between his testimony to Robert Slatzer in 1992, Donald Wolfe in 1998, then Margolis and Buskin in 2014; but I would rather focus on Hall’s responses to direct questioning from the prosecutors and district attorneys that also appeared on The Marilyn Files. Even though, in Section 4, I identified the members of KTLA’s legal panel, suffer me to repeat that information here: Jon Munier, a former Houston Texas Assistant District Attorney; Charles Graddick, a former Alabama Attorney General; Kate Baird, a former Kansas City Kansas Assistant District Attorney; Joseph Fusco, a former New Jersey prosecutor; and Mary Tousignant, a former York County Maine District Attorney.

Mary Tousignant, the former Maine District Attorney, began the interrogation of James Hall; she declared and al-so simultaneously asked: Mr. Hall, isn’t it true that ten years ago, when you first came up with this story, you were down and out in Las Vegas, dead broke?

Hall denied that he was dead broke and declared: I was working.

Ms. Tousignant then asked Hall if he had, at that time, enough money to get home to Salt Lake City? Hall answered that he did.

The only plausible and logical assumption is that Hall, who must have enjoyed gambling, had squandered his money doing so. But didn’t you call the Globe and negotiate a contract to tell this story? Ms. Tousignant asked.

Hall answered that he did; and he admitted that he received $40K as payment from the tabloid for his sensational story. On the same day that Hall called the Globe, the former DA then asserted, Hall also called the Los Angeles County District Attorney and discussed giving him information.

Hall replied: No, ma’am. I talked to the district attorney about two or three days before I ever talked to the Globe.

Even though Hall asserted that he never refused to testify before an official inquiry into Marilyn’s death, it must be noted that the LADA’s office never convened an official inquiry. Hall refused, according to his 1982 tape re-corded conversations with both Deputy District Attorney, Ronald Carroll, and his lead investigator, Alan Tomich, to completely tell his story to them without compensation. Once again, quoting from the LADA’s Summary Report, a portion of those tape recorded conversations follow.

Carroll: Is there any way you’d be willing to come forward and talk to one of our investigators?

Hall: I’m gonna be very candid with you. I’m very afraid because of people getting shot. I’m not doing this as a good Samaritan. Quite frankly, on a financial basis, it would require expense money.

Carroll: What kind of expense money?

Hall: I don’t know pal. I’m starving to death and my family is, too. That’s the only reason we’ve been doing this.

I cannot offer any commentary regarding who might have been shot because of Marilyn’s death or because the gunshot victim had offered testimony pertaining to that event, an event that had transpired twenty years in the past by the time Hall appeared with his Greenson injection story. Most of the principals accused of involvement in Marilyn’s murder and the subsequent cover-up had already departed Planet Earth.

After Ronald Carroll’s conversation with Hall, lead investigator, Alan Tomich spoke with the former ambulance attendant; and Hall stated:

That thing happened twenty years ago. It’s a long time. Now, I gave you information on the phone that nobody has that you can check out and prove. I’m not just doing it because I’m Joe Good Guy. I’m doing it because of the economy and what’s happened financially.

That thing? What an odd manner of referring to the death of Marilyn Monroe. At any rate, ultimately, both Carroll and Tomich informed Hall that the DA’s office would only reimburse Hall for his related expenses. In response, Hall threatened to approach the tabloids with the story. Hall’s threat regarding the tabloids elicited the following response from Tomich: Well, then, we’d be getting our information for free, wouldn’t we?

At this point, Hall’s motivations should be exceedingly clear.

KTLA’s legal panel continued to question James Hall. Jon Munier asked Hall if he had ever testified under oath in reference to this particular case? Hall replied that he had not. Kate Baird wanted to know if Hall asked the Los Angeles District Attorney for compensation? Hall replied as follows: I asked the district attorney what he would pay for a story, yes. Then Ms. Baird noted: And you ultimately didn’t provide it to the district attorney. Right? Hall denied Ms. Baird’s statement, an obvious prevarication, as proven by the taped telephone conversations. Essentially, James Hall closed the door on the Los Angeles District Attorney by stating that he would not provide any additional testimony without monetary compensation.

Then the questioning became pointed.

Graddick: Mr. Liebowitz says he was not with you that night. Have you talked to him about that?

Hall: No.

Graddick: You’ve indicated on some other occasions that he accepted hush money and bought six car washes. Have you checked that out?

Hall: No.

Graddick: You mentioned a man’s name, Rick. What’s Rick’s name?

Hall: Richard Charles Grieder.

Graddick: Have you talked to him?

Hall: Last time I talked to Rick was in Las Vegas.

Hall’s response was not very precise. Was he referring to 1982, meaning that he had not spoken to Grieder for a decade? Despite the vagueness of Hall’s response, Graddick did not press the issue with Hall and continued his examination. Joseph Fusco soon joined the fray.

Graddick: Where is he [Grieder] now?

Hall: I have no idea. The last I heard he was in Houston Texas.

Graddick: Are they the only two people who can corroborate your testimony?

Fusco: And they both deny you.

Hall: Rick has denied me? Not that I know of.

Fusco: Mr. Hall, how long did you work for the Schaefer Ambulance Service?

Hall: Approximately three years.

Fusco: What were the circumstance surrounding your ending that employment?

Hall:  The reason I terminated my employment?

Fusco: What were the circumstance surrounding the termination of your employment there?

Hall: We had gone to a court trial in Santa Monica and the …

Fusco: Isn’t it a fact that you were accused of theft by the Schaefer people?

Hall: O, yes, sure.

Fusco: You were tried. You were tried. Is that right, sir?

Hall: Yes sir.

Graddick: What was the verdict?

Hall: Not guilty.

James Hall lost his job at Schaefer Ambulance Service because the company believed he was a thief; and since their suspicions resulted in a court trial, Hall must have been indicted and charged with theft, meaning Schaefer’s suspicions were at least somewhat justified despite the not guilty verdict.

Charles Graddick mentioned Walt Schaefer’s testimony regarding an alleged company log which indicated that Marilyn’s body was transported to Santa Monica Hospital on the morning of August the 5th. Asked if he believed Schaefer’s testimony, Hall stated that he did not. Graddick asked Hall if he believed that Walt Schaefer was lying; Hall responded: Yes, sir.

Kate Baird then entered the fray of interrogation and asked Hall if he prepared a written report of any type. Hall responded: I would have a Standard Recap Sheet that you turn in at the end of your shift, which would have been at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, not in the early morning when Walter Schaefer said that he saw it. Walt Schaefer, in fact, testified that he discovered the mysterious log, or Standard Recap Sheet, when he arrived at his office on Sunday morning, August the 5th. At least, that is what Robert Slatzer reported, which was repeated by Donald Wolfe. Schaefer strangely testified: I guess I can tell it. I came in the next morning [August the 5th] and found on the log sheet we had transported Marilyn Monroe. I understood she had overdosed. She was under the influence of barbiturates. They took her on a Code 3, an emergency, into Santa Monica Hospital, where she terminated (Wolfe 94-95).

Obviously, Schaefer testified with some hesitation which, frankly, is difficult to understand, considering that Slatzer interviewed Schaefer over two decades after Marilyn’s death. It must be stated here, once again, that the mysterious Standard Recap Sheet, or ambulance log, has never been published, has never been seen by the public. Additionally, Walt Schaefer identified the driver of the ambulance that collected Marilyn, delivered her to Santa Monica Hospital and then returned her corpse to Fifth Helena as Ken Hunter and the ambulance attendant as Murray Liebowitz. According to a taped telephone conversation between an LADA investigator and Ken Hunter, the story related by James Hall was simply bullshit. Even though Hunter could not remember the exact time that he and Liebowitz arrived, when they did, the COPs had already arrived and Marilyn had already expired. They were not needed. Therefore, Hunter and Liebowitz must have arrived at Fifth Helena after 4:35 AM, after the arrival of Sgt Jack Clemmons and Sgt Robert Byron.

Author Donald Wolfe asserted, disingenuously, that the LADA refused to interview James Hall; but as proven by the taped telephone conversations between the LADA and Hall, the story teller refused to tell his entire story without monetary compensation. Incredibly, Donald Wolfe also asserted that the Kennedy clan obviously hired Ken Hunter to cast doubt on James Hall’s bizarre yarn. Incidentally, Hunter’s testimony also effectively contradicted the testimony of Walt Schaefer.

Continuing with the interrogation of James Hall.

Fusco: Did anyone ever ask you to not reveal your story, sir?

Hall: No.

Fusco: They bribed Liebowitz but they didn’t ask you?

Hall: Nobody ever said anything to me.

Graddick: No one’s ever solicited you. You’ve always solicited them for, to tell your story. Isn’t that right?

Hall: I’ve always told anybody that asked and I’ve asked people, too, yes.

Graddick: No, sir, you sold this to everybody you talked to publicly, haven’t you?

Hall: No, sir.

Hall’s statement to Charles Graddick―I’ve always told anybody that asked―was clearly contradicted by the facts: obviously Hall refused to relate his story to the Los Angeles District Attorney without payment there for; and after Hall’s evident distortion, the program’s co-host, Bill Bixby, interrupted the contentious questioning of the former ambulance attendant: apparently, questions by the legal panel and Hall’s responses had revealed more of the actual facts about their witness than perhaps the program’s producers desired. Indisputably, James Hall maneuvered under a financial motivation to narrate a story that he could peddle to the highest tabloid bidder; and he also had an agenda, evidently to repudiate and damage the former employer that had accused him of theft and caused his legal problems, Walt Schaefer.

Consider this: in every recitation of the story uttered by James Hall, he has clearly indicated that Dr. Greenson removed a hypodermic syringe from his black bag and the syringe was already fitted with a cardiac needle. Hall has also clearly indicated that Dr. Greenson then removed a pharmaceutical bottle with a rubber cap from which the doctor filled the syringe with an unknown liquid. However, during a telephone conversation in 1982 with the DA’s investigator, Alan Tomich, Hall asserted that Dr. Greenson proceeded to open up his little bag and pulled out a loaded hypodermic syringe and injected the fluid into her heart (emphasis mine). James Hall’s original testimony to investigator Tomich completely contradicted all of the ambulance attendant’s future testimony; and as usual, the contradiction established a mutually exclusive condition: which condition was the factual condition, empty syringe or loaded syringe? Both cannot be true.

Consider this, also: James Hall stated that he and his partner arrived at Fifth Helena between the hours of 4:00 and 6:00 AM; and Marilyn was still alive. That is certainly odd, considering Sgt Jack Clemmons arrived at 4:35 AM; and even at that time, Marilyn’s body displayed fixed lividity and advanced rigor mortis, which indicated that Marilyn entered eternity a few hours prior to Clemmons’ arrival. Besides, if James Hall, Murray Liebowitz and their ambulance arrived at 5:00 AM, they would have encountered Sgt Clemmons, who would have been able, there-fore, to observe the murder of Marilyn Monroe.

Several conspiracist authors tried to reconcile the serious problems and issues caused by Hall’s originally testified to arrival time and repeated an excuse offered by Hall: during his career with Schaefer Ambulance, he often worked twelve hour shifts: dispatch times, arrival times, where he actually was at any given time―his memory just became a blur. That being the case, how can his memory be trusted regarding anything?

Additionally, Officer Lynn Franklin and Sgt Jack Clemmons repeated statements they claimed Hall made to them about the time of his arrival. According to BHP Officer Franklin, James Hall asserted that the heart stabbing incident transpired at 3:00 AM; and according to Sgt Clemmons’ testimony, when the sergeant appeared with Geraldo Rivera in 1988 during the program, Marilyn Monroe: What Really Happened, Hall asserted that he and his partner received the dispatch notification at 3:00 AM; and they arrived at Fifth Helena just a few minutes thereafter, which means the stabbing incident must have transpired at approximately 3:15 AM Sunday morning. For Marilyn to have been alive at 3:00 AM or 3:15 AM or anytime between 4:00 AM and 6:00 AM was simply an impossibility, just like the scene as described by James Hall, repeated by Robert Slatzer, expanded by Norman Jefferies and then repeated again by Donald Wolfe, Jay Margolis and Richard Buskin.

James Hall passed a multitude of lie detector tests, six or eleven or fourteen, depending on Hall’s account; various criminal experts also hypnotized and then questioned Hall; and a hypnotist even implanted an odd post-hypnotic suggestion instructing Hall to answer all questions honestly. Afterwards, of course, an expert administered yet another lie detector test, which Hall apparently passed. The producers of The Marilyn Files even paid for yet another expert to test Hall’s truthfulness, and a recorded portion of that test became part of the program. The expert who administered that lie detection moment declared that Hall passed and that Hall was being truthful, which, of course, was a meaningless declaration.

How curious, the number of lie detection tests various experts administered to James Hall: if he passed the initial test, why continue to administer them over and over, and then implant that inane and bewildering post hypnotic suggestion?―a farcical implication that James Hall, like a fictional Vulcan, would be rendered incapable of telling a lie, in and of itself, an elaborate deception; but regarding a reason for giving James Hall several lie detector tests, could an important factor regarding those multiple tests have been the basic unreliability of lie detection testing?

Psychologists and scientists who study habitual liars and their habitual lying agree that lie detectors are fundamentally unreliable. A lie detector cannot determine if a person is being truthful,1“The Polygraph in Doubt.” R. Adelson.
“The Truth About Lie Detectors (aka Polygraph Tests).” Staff Writers.
American Psychological Association,
July/August 2004, Vol 35, No.7.
<https://www.apa.org/research/action/polygraph>
<https://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug04/polygraph.html>even though the process of lie detection purports to measure a testifiers physical responses to stress that proponents maintain lying, or being deceptive, generates. In an article published by the American Psychological Association, Dr. Leonard Saxe of Brandeis University, noted: Because of the nature of deception, there is no good way to validate the test for making judgments about criminal behavior. There is no unique physiological reaction to deception. Likewise, in a similar article, the APA also noted that most psychologists and other scientists agree that a concrete basis for the validity of polygraph tests does not exist; and there is little evidence that polygraph tests can accurately detect lies.

In 2003, The National Research Council appointed a blue ribbon panel of researchers and tasked the researchers to examine the scientific validity of the polygraph for national security. The panel’s report to the NRC found no evidence of polygraph validity. The APA ultimately concluded: For now, although the idea of a lie detector may be comforting, the most practical advice is to remain skeptical about any conclusion wrung from a polygraph. Humorously, Marion Oswald, Vice-Chancellor and Senior Fellow of Law at Northumbria University, equated the polygraph machine to the thermometer employed by Mary Poppins2Charles Moulton Marston, along with this wife, Elizabeth, and their polyamorous partner, Olive Byrne, have been credited with creating the comic book character, Wonder Woman. Her creators armed her with a powerful tool, the Lasso of Truth. The magic lasso captures, subdues and compels the captured to tell the truth.
Remarkably, Marston, a psychologist and proponent of female superiority, became involved in the creation of a prototype polygraph machine, an interesting story unto itself involving John Augustus Larson. Larson has been credited with inventing the modern polygraph machine that measures blood pressure, heart rate, respiration and skin conductivity.to detect naughty or dishonest behavior, obviously also a reference to the unrealistic nature of lie detection testing. Certainly, regarding the testimony of James Hall and the multitude of polygraphs administered to him, the only conclusion possible is this: obviously, there was not much faith in the verity of James Hall’s narrative or in the verity of James Hall.

Finally, near the end of KTLA’s The Marilyn Files,  Jane Wallace asked the former LADA attorney, John Miner, what he thought of James Hall’s incredible story. Miner responded:

To understand his story, you have to understand what a lie detector is. A lie detector can determine the probability that a person is telling the truth about what he believes; but it does not mean that he tells the truth that something actually happened.

Wallace then asked Miner: Does that mean you’re saying that he’s lying and doesn’t even know he’s lying? Miner considered the host’s question briefly and then responded:

I’m not saying … I can’t enter his mind. I don’t know why he told the story that he told. He may believe it but it never happened and it could not have happened based on the scientific evidence.

And that declaration by John Miner, his allusion to the scientific evidence, leads directly to what follows.