Bud as an Assassination Researcher

In 1963, Americans were shocked by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Bud Fensterwald was particularly dismayed by what he felt was an effort to change our government by non-democratic means and a feeling that the US Government was trying to gloss over the likelihood that Kennedy’s death was due to a wide-ranging conspiracy, not a line assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. 

Bud’s concern was heightened by the publication of the Warren Commission Report, 1968 assassinations of civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in April and of Senator and Democratic Presidential hopeful, Robert F. Kennedy in June. At this point, Bud decided to devote much of the rest of his life to solving these mysteries. 

One concrete step he undertook was to represent convicted King assassin, James Earl Ray, in an effort to get him an actual trial. These efforts were unsuccessful and Ray died in prison in 1998.

In 1969, Bud and other researchers concerned that these assassinations were being covered up, formalized their efforts by creating the Committee to Investigate Assassinations (CTIA). In addition to proving financial assistance to the new organization, he also filed numerous FOIA suits to uncover government records helpful to their cause.

In 1977, Bud wrote a book entitled Coincidence or Conspiracy, a fact book of persons and facts surrounding the JFK assassination. 

In 1984, Bud and longtime associate, Jim Lesar founded the Assassination Archive and Research Center (AARC) to provide a permanent depository for materials related to political assassinations. The AARC was initially located at 918 F. Street NW In Washington D.C. and is now in Silver Spring, MD. The AARC continues it’s important work to this day with Jim Lesar as it’s President. 

In his will, Bud left a bequest to the AARC of $250,000.