My mother was a teenager in Chicago when President Kennedy was killed. Her father was a first generation American Sicilian. He owned a meat packing facility.
All of his friends from the growing up, that he played gin rummy with every week, were very connected. A man at his funeral when I was in college was at the top of the food chain in Chicago.
Anyway, my Mom’s story was that the morning after JFK was killed, she came down to breakfast and she was still crying and in shock. She said something like “I can’t believe they killed him.” Supposedly my grandpa put down his fork and knife, looked at her and asked “who is they?” She said the Cubans.
He laughed at her and said “Carol Anne, the boys killed him. They all were talking about it before it happened.” She says he picked up his fork and knife and never said another word about it.
Anecdotal? Yes. Third hand? Yes but close in the family. If you look at how the mafia won the election for Kennedy, then he turned on them with the full power of the govt, it makes a lot of sense.
That’s exactly what I’ve always believed...the Mafia had the motive and the means to take out both Kennedys. I’ve also heard stories thru my (also Midwestern) Italian family connections...not third hand, but fourth and fifth hand word of mouth.